Christian  Progress 
in  the  Far  East 

A Report  of  a visit  to  Baptist  Mission 
Fields  in  Japan,  China  and  the 
Philippine  Islands 

1920-1921  • 


By 

HENRY  B.  ROBINS,  Ph.  D. 

Professor  of  Religious  Education  and  the  History 
and  Philosophy  of  Religion  and  Missions, 
Rochester  Theological  Seminary 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST  FOREIGN  MISSION  SOCIETY 

TWO  HUNDRED  SEVENTY-SIX  FIFTH  AVENUE 
NEW  YORK 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/christianprogresOOrobi 


IN  the  spring  of  1920  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the 
American  Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Society  learned  that 
one  of  its  members,  Professor  H.  B.  Robins,  Ph.  D.,  of 
Rochester  Theological  Seminary,  would  find  it  possible  to 
spend  the  greater  part  of  his  Sabbatical  year  in  a study  of 
missionary  work  in  the  Far  East.  The  Board  was  glad 'to 
take  advantage  of  this  opportunity  of  having  one  of  its 
members  visit  unhurriedly  its  missions  in  Japan,  the  Philip- 
pine Islands,  South  China,  East  China  and  West  China. 
Professor  Robins  is  well  qualified  for  a discriminating 
study  of  conditions  affecting  missionary  work,  and  he  was 
therefore  invited  to  undertake  this  service.  He  spent  the 
greater  part  of  the  year  1920-1921  in  a most  thorough  in- 
vestigation. His  report  indicates  unusual  discernment  and 
practical  apprecation  of  many  of  the  pressing  problems 
connected  with  the  missionary  enterprise  in  the  Far  East. 
The  Board  gratefully  records  its  appreciation  of  the  notably 
fine  service  rendered  to  the  cause  of  Christian  missions  by 
Professor  Robins  and  has  authorized  the  printing  of  his 
report  for  private  circulation  among  missionaries,  repre- 
sentatives of  Boards  and  others  who  are  especially  inter- 
ested in  the  questions  that  are  treated  therein. 

James  H.  Franklin,  Foreign  Secretary. 


INTRODUCTION 


These  lines  are  being  written  some  two  months  after  the  pre- 
sentation of  the  accompanying  report  to  the  Board.  The  decision 
of  the  Board  to  print  the  report  for  private  circulation  makes  it 
seem  desirable  to  incorporate  briefly  some  of  the  more  general  con- 
siderations offered  in  the  address  which  accompanied  the  presenta- 
tion of  the  report  and  in  a short  address  made  at  a later  meeting  of 
the  Board. 

The  missionary  enterprise  can  never  be  viewed  wholly  apart  from 
the  personal  factors  which  condition  its  successful  presentation.  The 
missionary  is  organized  Christianity’s  point  of  contact  with  the  non- 
Christian  world.  No  organization  of  missions  which  abridges  this 
function  or  tends  to  mechanize  it  can  for  a moment  be  contemplated, 
for  the  final  answer  to  the  appeal  of  the  non-Christian  world  is  not 
institutions  but  Christian  manhood  and  womanhood.  The  real  ques- 
tion at  issue  is  how  the  human  element  in  missions  may  best  be  ap- 
plied. One  who  by  force  of  circumstances  must  stand  outside  the 
missionary  inner  circle  as  an  onlooker  and  whose  view  is  necessarily 
ex  parte  hesitates  to  speak  in  matters  so  intimate  and  personal  to 
the  missionary  as  those  involved  in  such  a report  as  is  here  offered. 
It  seems  very  much  as  if  the  whilom  visitor  were  trying  to  tell  the 
family  how  to  order  its  affairs.  Yet  the  discriminating  visitor  who 
travels  widely  enough  to  gain  some  perspective  of  values  may  be  able 
to  trace  tendencies  and  to  discover  factors  which,  while  in  the  end 
they  intimately  concern  the  particular  station  and  the  individual  mis- 
sionary, are  of  most  immediate  and  urgent  concern  to  the  Board  as 
that  agency  which  must  formulate  general  policies  and  direct  the 
financing  of  the  entire  project. 

There  are  two  inherent  and  essential  tendencies  in  missionary 
work,  a centrifugal  and  a centripetal — a tendency  to  expansion  and  a 
tendency  to  intension.  It  is  perhaps  natural  to  assume  that  they  may 
be  left  to  look  after  themselves,  that  the  one  will  in  fact  regulate  the 
other.  And  yet  the  emphasis  upon  one  or  the  other  of  them  depends 
no  little  upon  the  view  of  the  enterprise  which  is  held.  If  a hasty 
itineracy  be  thought  sufficient,  the  expansive  tendency  is  frankly 
emphasized;  if,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  seen  that  far  more  is  involved 
than  this  policy  can  assure,  an  intensive  policy  follows.  Something 
approaching  the  former  view  seems  often  to  have  prevailed  among 
missionary  groups. 

Without  confining  our  outlook  to  our  own  denominational  missions, 
we  may  broadly  state  that  the  last  two  decades  have  seen  a very  rapid 
institutionalizing  of  missionary  effort.  In  this  movement  our  own 
missionary  interest  has  fully  shared.  This  institutionalizing  ten- 
dency is  due  in  part  to  the  natural  demands  of  a growing  work  and 
in  even  greater  degree  to  a recognition  that  the  bulk  of  evangelization 
must  ultimately  be  cared  for  by  trained  native  leaders.  But  we  have 
moved  thus  far  in  the  institutional  direction  without  a corresponding 
modification  of  our  general  expansive  tendencies.  And  we  have  moved 
much  further  in  the  direction  of  an  institutionalized  program  than  in 
the  development  of  a responsible  self-maintaining  native  constituency. 
The  question  is  not  therefore  so  much  whether  the  native  constituency 
can  catch  up  with  this  growing  institutional  overhead  as  whether  the 
Foreign  Mission  Society  can  keep  up  with  it.  It  is  true  that  our 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


3 


Board  some  years  ago  tentatively  formulated  what  was  termed  “the 
intensive  policy”  and  took  an  initial  step  at  no  little  cost.  But  the 
fact  remains  that  our  work  has  never  been  upon  the  minimum,  basis 
of  efficiency  required  by  that  policy.  The  present  epoch  in  our 
history  requires  more  courage  of  the  same  sort  which  it  took  to  deal 
with  the  Central  China  situation. 

The  report  as  submitted  to  the  Board  was,  nevertheless,  framed 
upon  the  assumption  that  we  should  be  able  to  proceed  actively  in 
those  directions  in  which  our  work  has  already  been  extended  and  in 
other  directions  scarcely  as  yet  attempted.  But  the  current  financial 
involvement  of  our  Society  serves  to  emphasize  the  critical  situation 
in  which  our  entire  venture  is  placed.  We  are  engaged  in  a series  of 
growing  missionary  projects  the  peak  of  whose  financial  demand  we 
have  not  yet  reached.  Not  in  one  mission  only  but  in  all  of  them  this 
rapidly  augmenting  demand  is  in  evidence.  Our  resulting  problem  is 
not  that  of  a mere  modus  vivendi.  Such  projects,  unless  they  are 
enabled  to  move  with  the  tide  of  interest,  lose  their  opportunity  and 
settle  down  to  a minimum  level  of  value  and  efficiency.  Not  a few 
such  sections  of  our  undertaking  bear  a close  analogy  to  the  business 
enterprise  in  which,  for  a period  of  time,  increasing  amounts  must  be 
invested,  until  at  length  the  balance  is  struck  in  favor  of  the  investor 
and  acutal  dividends  begin  to  flow  in.  Our  problem  is  not  therefore, 
in  these  instances,  that  of  “keeping  things  up,”  it  is  rather  that  of 
building  them  up  until  they  reach  their  potential  maximum.  The 
status  quo  will  not  long  answer. 

In  this  situation  I am  oifering  the  following  suggestions,  not 
with  the  thought  that  they  are  original  with  me,  but  because  they 
sum  up  a definite  policy.  Our  policy  should  include: 

1)  The  very  frank  recognition  and  reaffirmation  of  the  intensive 
policy — the  policy  of  concentrating  upon  certain  manageable  units 
most  vitally  related  to  our  main  objective,  which  is,  as  we  understand 
it,  the  planting  and  development  of  an  indigenous,  self-supporting, 
self-propagating  Christianity. 

2)  The  serious  resolve  to  bring  all  our  missions  under  review, 
both  as  to  their  immediate  productiveness  and  as  to  their  relation  to 
the  application  of  the  intensive  policy ; such  inquiry  to  involve  a study 
of  the  various  lines  of  endeavor  in  each  mission,  asking  both  as  to 
their  fruitfulness  and  as  to  the  relation  of  each  to  our  main  objective. 

3)  The  decision  to  concentrate,  in  at  least  two  definite  respects, 
upon  manageable  projects,  viz: 

a)  In  _the_  training  of  native  leadership  in  certain  key  institu- 
tions— a limitation  and  solidification  of  our  work  with  relation  to  these 
institutions. 

b)  In  the  development  of  strongly  manned  and  well-equipped 
laboratories  of  evangelism,  centered  in  vigorously  developed  key 
churches  of  a type  adapted  in  each  instance  to  outstanding  community 
needs. 

4)  The  consequent  positive  limitation  of  outstation  work  in  the 
various  fields  to  those  outstations  best  capable  of  being  integrated 
with  a policy  of  decided  concentration.  The  projection  of  pioneering 
work  to  be  in  the  future  more  conclusively  a responsibility  of  the 
native  constituency  under  trained  native  leadership  and  so  far  as 
possible  at  the  expense  of  the  native  churches. 

5)  That  such  study  of  our  missions  as  is  suggested  in  the  above  be 
carried  through  in  distinct  and  close  conjunction  with  the  administra- 
tive organization  of  the  several  missions.  And  that,  since  otherwise 
contemplated  reductions  would  be  undertaken  merely  as  items  in  an 
opportunist  program,  we  offer  them  rather  as  incident  to  a construe- 


4 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


tive  policy  of  concentration,  based  in  its  particulars  upon  the  closest 
possible  ascertainment  of  the  current  situation. 

6)  That  a thorough  canvass  be  made  of  the  relation  of  new  mis- 
sionary appointments  to  adequate  work  appropriations,  with  a view 
to  ascertaining  more  completely  the  ratio  which  ought  to  obtain. 
It  would  seem  that  with  the  development  of  trained  native  leaders 
and  the  cumulative  transfer  of  responsibility  from  foreign  to  native 
staffs,  the  proportion  of  work  appropriations  to  missionary  salaries 
must,  for  the  time  at  any  rate,  be  increased:  that  is,  that  we  must 
invest  more  in  working  budget  in  proportion  to  what  we  invest  in 
men. 

These  suggestions  are  offered  in  the  belief  that  if  we  do  not  shortly 
bring  our  work  in  conspicuous  instances  up  to  a level  of  greater 
efficiency,  one  more  commensurate  with  the  splendid  courage  of  the 
men  and  women  who  serve  at  these  difficult  posts  and  more  in  keeping 
with  the  opportunity,  we  shall  not  only  see  that  opportunity  slip  away 
but  shall  subject  our  devoted  representatives  to  the  bitter  psychology 
of  defeat.  Unless  we  can  more  adequately  meet  the  abounding  future 
with  our  present  expansion  of  base,  we  would  far  better  narrow  the 
base  of  operations  to  the  limits  of  manageable  achievement.  He  is 
the  man  of  faith,  by  Jesus’  own  definition,  who  first  sits  down  to 
determine  whether,  having  once  begun  his  building,  he  will  have 
wherewith  to  finish  it.  No  illusory  appeal  to  sentiment  should  blind 
up  to  this  sober  fact.  With  the  increased  general  cost  of  operating 
and  with  the  fact  to  consider  that  even  upon  the  old  pre-war  level 
we  should  be  far  from  the  peak  of  expenditure,  we  must  soberly  ask 
ourselves  what  probability  there  is  that  our  denomination,  which  has 
actually  reached  a comparatively  high  level  of  per  capita  giving  in 
the  New  World  campaign,  will  in  the  determinable  future  strike  a 
yet  higher  level  of  permanent  and  dependable  support. 

Although  we  are  not  excused  from  the  exercise  of  our  best  judg- 
ment and  the  application  of  our  soundest  business  sense  to  the  prob- 
lems involved  in  the  future  of  our  missionary  project,  we  must  rec- 
ognize that  we  face  a task  which  is  humanly  impossible.  Only  the 
faith  that  God  has  been  at  work  hitherto  and  that  He  is  still  at  work 
will  carry  us  through.  Our  main  responsibility  is  to  make  sure  that 
we  are  workers  together  with  Him.  May  His  Spirit  illumine  our 
spirits  in  the  face  of  our  common  task  so  that  we  may  be  wise  unto 
the  winning  of  souls  and  building  of  the  Kingdom  of  the  Son  of  His 
love! 

Henry  B.  Robins. 


November,  1921. 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Fellow-Members  of  the  Board, 

Dear  Brethren; 

A little  more  than  a year  ago,  at  your  invitation,  I set  out  to 
visit  the  five  missions  of  the  Society  in  the  Far  East,  viz.,  the  three 
Missions  in  China,  thd  Mission  in  Japan  and  the  Philippine  Mission. 
In  the  providence  of  God  the  tour  has  been  completed,  although  I 
must  remark  that  the  misgivings  with  which  I embarked  were  con- 
firmed.  The  representatives  of  the  Society  in  the  Far  East  deserve 
far  more  than  I could  bring  them  and  the  Board  needs  a more  dis- 
passionate observer  and  a more  competent  reporter  than  I.  How- 
ever, for  all  the  good  which  may  accrue  from  this  visitation,  and  for 
the  privilege  of  representing  you  upon  this  errand,  I am  deeply 
grateful. 

I wish  at  the  outset  of  my  report  to  say  how  much  I appreciated 
throughout  my  months  of  travel  the  forethought  and  constant  counsel 
of  Doctor  Franklin.  But  for  his  insight  and  advice,  the  visitation 
must  have  counted  for  far  less  than  it  did.  Everywhere  I went,  he 
had  prepared  the  way  and  had  anticipated  all  the  major  demands 
of  a somewhat  exacting  itinerary.  I have  a growing  appreciation 
of  the  fact  that  our  secretaries  live  with  their  tasks  and  know 
them,  if  I may  use  the  term  in  unwonted  sense,  hy  heart. 

I must  also  confess,  here  at  the  beginning  of  my  report,  that  I 
am  debtor  to  the  whole  missionary  fraternity  of  the  great  fields  which 
I visited,  as  indeed  to  not  a few  representatives  of  other  mis- 
sionary bodies  than  our  own.  One  could  not  travel  far,  amid  situ- 
ations so  varied  and  at  times  so  disturbing,  without  coming  to  feel 
most  keenly  the  value  of  the  funded  wisdom  of  the  missionary  group, 
so  continuously  and  so  freely  at  his  disposal.  While  I thank  God  for 
health  and  for  journeying  mercies,  I know  that  these  good  gifts  were 
mediated  for  my  brethren  and  sisters  of  the  missions.  Perhaps  the 
finest  gift  of  the  journey  was  the  felowship  it  afforded  with  our  rep- 
resentatives. They  are  a picked  company,  with  a measure  of  maturi- 
ty and  a degree  of  originality  in  religious  experience  most  refreshing 
to  discover. 

The  Plan  of  this  Report 

The  preliminary  reports  sent  from  time  to  time  during  the  year 
followed  of  necessity  the  order  of  my  itinerary.  In  the  interest  of 
coherency,  I shall  in  this  report  depart  from  that  order.  The  brief 
paragraphs  with  which  I preface  each  of  the  main  sections  of  this  re- 
port are  not  an  attempt  at  a fresh  contribution  to  knowledge.  My 
purpose  is  simply  to  bring  to  your  attention  situations  and  move- 
ments which  have  direct  bearing  upon  the  missionary  enterprise,  as 
these  situations  and  movements  have  come  to  my  attention.  Any 
suggestions  as  to  policy  which  I may  offer  are  not  to  be  construed 
as  in  any  sense  a criticism  of  policies  which  have  hitherto  prevailed. 
We  are  engaged  in  a great  experiment  and  the  earlier  stages  are 
entitled  to  the  same  respect  which  we  ask  for  current  phases.  No  con- 
clusion of  worth  could  be  reached  but  for  the  experiment,  and  in  a 
great  humanistic  field  such  as  missions  there  is  less  waste  than  we 
sometimes  imagine,  because  conditions  are  less  rigid  than  in  the  field 
of  exact  science. 

After  some  general  considerations  having  to  do  with  each  country, 
so  that  we  may  have  freshly  in  mind  some  of  the  elements  in  the  set- 


5 


6 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


ting  of  our  problem,  I shall  take  up  the  missions  one  by  one  and  dis- 
cuss briefly  what  seem  to  me  the  main  issues  involved.  The  order  of 
oresentation  will  be  as  follows: 

I.  CHINA. 

1.  The  South  China  Mission. 

2.  The  East  China  Mission. 

3.  The  West  China  Mission. 

II.  JAPAN. 

The  Japan  Mission. 

III.  THE  PHILIPPINE  ISLANDS. 

The  Philippine  Mission. 

IV.  CONCLUSION. 


I 

CHINA 

Even  although  it  is  perilous  to  attempt  generalizations  concerning 
a land  so  extensive  and  so  varied  as  China,  there  are  certain  facts 
which  apply  broadly  to  the  whole  country  and  people.  The  impor- 
tance of  facts  so  elementary  is  sometimes  overlooked  by  missionary  ad- 
ministrators, but  at  their  peril  or  the  imperilment  of  their  trust. 


Racial  Inertia 

When  I emphasize  the  vast  inertia  of  China,  it  is  not  to  say  that 
there  are  no  signs  of  change;  such  signs  are  evidenced  in  every  part 
of  the  land.  But  the  culture  of  China,  her  fundamental  notions  and 
practices,  are  far  more  deeply  rooted  than  we  are  wont  to  think. 
This  fact  qualifies  all  our  successes.  The  mental  and  spiritual  ca- 
pacities of  the  people  are  already  prepossessed.  To  effect  any  great 
change  in  the  life  and  estate  of  such  a people,  we  must  modify  the 
whole  complex  of  their  mental  and  spiritual  existence.  This  is  a tre- 
mendous undertaking.  Christianity  must  penetrate  their  daily  liv- 
ing; but  how  can  it  do  so,  when  common  morality  rests  to  so  large  a 
degree  upon  fundamental  misconceptions,  when  the  common  daily 
practices,  which  have  behind  them  ail  the  unreasoned  force  of  taboo, 
are  dictated  by  beliefs  often  so  completely  irrational  and  unethical? 

Confucianism,  Buddhism  and  Taoism  have  a past  far  more  splen- 
did than  anything  contemporary,  but  they  are  not  dead.  It  is  quite 
impossible  to  estimate  their  relative  hold  upon  the  people,  for  what 
is  true  in  one  section  is  not  true  in  another;  but  the  cardinal  notions 
of  these  systems,  often  in  inextricable  complexity  of  interrelationship, 
enter  into  all  the  prudential,  social,  ethical  and  religious  thinking  of 
the  people.  Here  they  are : the  politico-ethical  ideas  of  Confucianism, 
the  religio-philosophic  concepts  of  Buddhism  and  the  mysticism  and 
magic  of  the  Taoist  system — all  of  them  overlaid  and  interpenetrated 
by  a vast  conglomerate  of  primitive  beliefs  whose  biggest  concept  is 
demonism.  No  one  is  readily  won  away  from  the  mental  and  spiritual 
context  of  the  common  life  of  his  people;  our  problem,  in  consequence. 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


7 


becomes  that  of  dominating  and  idealizing  ever-widening  areas  of  his 
experience,  so  that  he  may  be  Christian  in  all  his  chief  relationships 
and  may  not  live  under  the'  terrible  constraint  of  heathen  taboo. 

National  Unrest 

In  spite  of  the  inertia  of  which  I have  spoken,  China  is  not  in 
repose.  Without  her  consent,  the  outside  world  has  made  her  neigh- 
bor. The  more  or  less  incidental  contacts  of  a century  ago  have  been 
replaced  by  the  continuous  pressure  and  interpenetration  of  Western 
life.  The  occidental  in  China  may  still  in  some  cases  be  a “foreign 
devil,”  but  he  is  not  a stranger.  Trade  has  brought  to  the  Far  East 
growing  communities  of  western  folk,  western  methods  of  doing  busi- 
ness, western  educational  standards  and  technique,  western  indus- 
trial processes.  The  foreign  communities  in  the  port  cities,  chiefly  of 
tradesfolk,  have  spread  the  leaven  of  unrest  by  very  force  of  continu- 
ous contact.  Foreign  educators  and  foreign-educated  Chinese  have 
been  even  more  responsible  for  the  unrest,  for  returned  students  and 
Chinese  educated  in  the  western  learning  have  become  exponents  of 
a new  order.  Although  political  upheaval  retired  the  ancient  sys- 
tems of  education  and  government,  it  is  still  true  that,  taken  by  and 
large,  the  political  notions  of  the  masses  have  not  materially  changed. 
The  new  ideas  are  not  so  much  directly  as  indirectly  responsible  for  the 
chief  unrest  which  one  today  discovers  in  China.  That  unrest  is  an 
unrest  of  the  masses,  due  to  social  and  economic  causes.  The  uncer- 
tainties and  oppressions  of  contemporary  government,  coupled  with 
the  new  and  acute  economic  liabilities  of  the  Chinese  people,  are  chief 
causes  of  popular  unrest.  The  temperamental  passivity  of  the  Chi- 
nese people  has,  of  late,  been  repeatedly  strained  to  the  breaking 
point.  Thus  while  the  new  ideas  which  at  present  hold  the  attention 
of  the  student  world  are  becoming  popularized  to  an  unprecedented 
degree,  and  because  of  the  current  stress  are  finding  a more  ready 
hearing  than  ever,  the  ultimate  causes  of  popular  unrest  are  eco- 
nomic, political,  social- — not  so  much  the  result  of  agitation  as  of  re- 
morseless experience. 

Even  although  republican  ideas  have  had  some  vogue  in  wide  cir- 
cles, under  the  conditions  which  obtain,  the  best  that  can  be  hoped 
for  is  a benevolent  oligarchy.  You  cannot  have  a true  republic.  Edu- 
cation has  been  popularized  in  ideal,  but  the  possibility  of  universal 
education  is  comparatively  remote;  the  masses  are  still  illiterate  and 
ignorant  beyond  belief.  Enlightened  religious  views  have  been  widely 
promulgated,  yet  China  is  still  obsessed  by  demons  and  the  whole 
machinery  of  her  religious  systems  is  organized  to  control  them. 
The  opium  traffic  has  been  made  the  subject  of  repeated  drastic  pro- 
hibitions, but  the  traffic  goes  on  today  over  ever-widening  areas.  It 
is  easy  to  note  changes,  yet  China  as  a v/hole  has  but  begun  to  change. 
The  restlessness  of  which  I have  spoken  is  not,  therefore,  to  be  taken 
as  an  omen  of  conscious  dissatisfaction  upon  the  part  of  the  masses 
with  the  fundamental  Chinese  view  of  things.  The  oppressions  of  con- 
temporary government  and  its  uncertainties  keep  the  people  stirred 

up- 

Everywhere  in  China  one  meets  with  soldiery,  and  an  irresponsi- 
ble militarism  is  in  no  small  measure  to  be  charged  with  China’s  un- 
rest. This  unrest,  it  is  true,  has  to  a degree  broken  up  the  rigidity  of 
the  old  order;  it  has  created  a fresh  opportunity  to  get  a hearing, 
whether  for  the  social  theorist  or  for  the  religious  propagandist.  And 
yet,  the  masses  of  Chinese  can  never  quite  fix  their  attention  upon 
that  hearing  while  the  stress  of  present  conditions  obtains.  Conse- 


8 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


quently,  when  we  think  of  missions  in  China,  we  need  to  remind 
ourselves  that  the  setting  is  one  of  ferment,  that  their  appeal  is  made 
to  a people  who  are  restless,  unsettled  in  their  ordinary  preoccupa- 
tions, eager  for  a new  day,  when  China,  or  at  any  rate,  their  own 
neighborhood,  shall  enjoy  peace  and  when  trade  shall  have  fresh  op- 
portunity. Not  the  competitive  spirit  of  trade,  however,  nor  the  ma- 
chinery of  western  society  can  meet  China’s  need;  only  a new  spirit 
of  righteousness  and  good  will,  the  spirit  of  Jesus  in  the  common  life, 
can  make  China  Christian.  The  enkindling  of  that  new  spirit  is  our 
primary  task. 


Renaissance 

Is  there,  then,  a Chinese  renaissance?  That  depends.  It  is  quite 
possible  to  take  too  gloomy  a view  of  the  situation.  There  are  distinctly 
hopeful  elements  in  it,  yet  I am  not  sure  that  the  view  commonly  re- 
flected by  literature  upon  the  Chinese  renaissance  is  in  true  perspec- 
tive. There  is,  to  he  sure,  a wide-spread  student  movement.  To  an 
unwonted  degree,  this  movement  has  organized  and  united  the  student 
world  of  China.  This  group  has  achieved  perhaps  the  most  effective 
relation  to  public  opinion  of  any  group  in  China.  In  a matter  like 
the  Shantung  issue  they  have  crystallized  that  opinion  and  have 
brought  heavy  and  continuous  pressure  to  bear  upon  government. 
They  have  even  secured  the  removal  of  high  state  officials.  Even 
although  their  activities  have  now  and  again  been  both  puerile  and 
abortive,  there  are  the  stirrings  of  a genuine  patriotism  among  them. 

The  observer  of  the  student  movement  should  learn  to  discrim- 
inate between  its  political  and  its  cultural  aspects,  for  the  two  are 
not  quite  co-extensive.  The  cultural  phase  of  the  movement  has  of  late 
received  great  stimulus  from  the  presence  in  China  of  Professor  John 
Dewey.  And  Bertrand  Russell  made  a very  effective  contact  with  the 
student  groups  during  his  recent  visit  to  China.  Professor  Dewey  is 
the  active  exponent  of  a theory  of  organized  life,  of  society,  which  is 
not  dependent  upon  supernatural  sanctions.  Although  he  does  not 
array  himself  against  Christianity  as  such,  and  not  seldom  speaks 
with  some  genuine  appreciation  of  the  educational  work  of  the  mis- 
sions, his  influence  upon  the  student  group  will  not  be  to  confirm  them 
in  their  confidence  in  the  validity  and  efficacy  of  Christianity.  Bertrand 
Russell’s  influence  is,  of  course,  far  more  iconoclastic  and  revolution- 
ary. The  infant  journals  of  the  new  cultural  movement  carry  on 
incessant  warfare  upon  the  existing  order  and  upon  all  archaic  insti- 
tutions and  ideas,  among  which  they  are  quite  apt  to  catalog  Chris- 
tianity. 

It  is  very  evident,  therefore,  that  the  Christian  students  of  China 
do  not  control  the  student  movement.  The  mandates  of  the  student 
organization  compel  action  only  in  a political  sense,  so  that  no  student 
group  is  under  such  compulsion  to  accept  new  ideas.  Yet,  at  the  same 
time,  the  influential  position,  of  the  revolutionary  cultural  group  has 
tremendous  effect  even  upon  the  students  of  Christian  institutions. 
Thus  far  Christian  schools  have  been  able,  in  the  main,  to  carry  their 
student  bodies  for  Christianity  and  for  the  Christian  interpretation 
of  social  relationships  and  functions.  Whether  they  can  continue  in 
like  measure  to  succeed  in  this  is  open  to  question.  Certain  it  is  that 
for  some  years  these  institutions  enjoyed  a unique  opportunity  to 
shape  student  opinion,  an  opportunity  of  which  they  made  good  use. 
Nor  has  that  opinion  passed.  Yet  the  proportion  of  China’s  leaders 
who  are  being  educated  in  Christian  institutions  grows  continually 
smaller. 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


9 


If  there  is  a Chinese  renaissance,  the  student  movement  is  at  the 
heart  of  it;  for  it  is  these  men  who  in  education,  in  business,  in  in- 
dustry, in  journalism,  in  public  office,  are  helping  to  make  a new 
China,  for  these  are  the  fields  which  they  enter  when  they  finish  their 
education.  With  these  facts  before  us,  we  may  recognize  why  and 
how  China  is  yielding  to  a new  order  and  the  China  of  yesterday,  not 
to  say  classic  China,  is  ever  receding.  Whether  the  new  China  shall 
be  Christian  will  depend  in  no  small  measure  upon  our  relation  to  the 
leadership  of  new  China. 

The  Economic  Factors 

The  framers  of  the  Consortium  were  right  in  the  view  that  the 
financial  element  in  China’s  rehabilitation  is  of  primary  importance. 
My  reference  to  the  matter  is  merely  to  point  out  that  the  spiritual 
and  the  economic  condition  each  other.  A chief  difficulty  confronting 
the  banking  groups  behind  the  Consortium  is  that  of  a sufficient  guar- 
antee of  good  faith  on  China’s  part.  Certain  it  is  that  more  money 
will  not  alone  give  us  a new  China.  Under  existing  conditions  the 
money  would  almost  inevitably  follow  the  vast  sums  already  squan- 
dered by  an  irresponsible  government.  On  the  other  hand,  the  new 
wants  to  which  western  training  and  the  stimulus  of  western  trade 
have  given  rise  cannot  be  supplied  under  the  old  economic  system. 
Vast  as  are  the  natural  resources  of  great  sections  of  China,  China 
as  a whole  is  poor.  The  reorganization  of  communities  into  sanitary, 
modern  abodes  of  humanity  lays  an  entail  which  the  present  economic 
system  will  not  support.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  elimination 
of  graft  and  waste  from  government  and  the  pooling  of  China’s  re- 
sources of  leadership  for  the  reorganization  of  the  common  life  are 
imperative.  We  should  not  suppose  that  the  Christianization  of 
China  can  be  consummated  without  this  economic  reorganization.  Our 
whole  missionary  endeavor  is  most  intimately  conditioned  by  the  abil- 
ity of  the  people  to  realize  new  ideals,  once  they  have  in  some  meas- 
ure grasped  them.  The  practicability  of  a real  home  for  the  average 
family ; the  possibility  of  guaranteeing  to  young  womanhood  the  right 
to  an  education  and  to  Christian  marriage;  the  hope  of  a business  era 
in  which  the  Christian  can  eliminate  the  evils  of  “squeeze”  from  his 
own  practice;  the  dream  of  a day  when  we  shall  have  a Chinese 
church  able  to  support  and  to  project  Christianity  with  virile  strength 
— these  are  all  economically  conditioned. 


A Social  Christianity 

_We  are  well  aware  that  China  must  be  Christianized  in  the 
Chinese  language;  we  are  coming  to  see  that  she  must  be  evangelized 
in  the  end  by  her  own  people;  but  we  have  not  so  clearly  seen  that 
China’s  vast  political  and  social  and  economic  problems  are  the 
milieu — the  specific  setting— of  our  task,  the  definite  conditions  of  our 
spiritual  ministry.  We  shall  not  plan  our  stewardship  wisely,  if 
we  project  it  irrespective  of  these  great  major  factors  which  condition 
the  life  of  the  people.  We  are  bound,  it  seems  to  me,  to  show  what 
Christianity  comes  to  for  the  plain  man,  the  business  man,  the  family, 
the  community,  in  the  new  China  that  is  making;  to  make  Christian- 
ity clear  to  them  in  the  terms  of  every-day  opportunity  and  obliga- 
tion. Otherwise  we  have  not  interpreted  Christianity  fully;  for 
Christianity  is  a plan  of  action,  a rule  of  life,  as  well  as  a great  hope. 
Let  us  preach  a whole  gospel  I 


10 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


1.  THE  EAST  CHINA  MISSION 
Comparative  Opportunity 

No  part  of  China  has,  for  the  past  few  years,  offered  a more  sta- 
ble field  of  action  than  the  provinces  of  Kiangsu  and  Chekiang,  in 
which  our  East  China  Mission'  is  located.  Movements  of  armies  and 
official  tyrannies  have  complicated  our  endeavor  less  in  this  field 
than  in  the  fields  of  our  other  missions  in  China;  yet  we  ought  not  to 
suppose  that  there  are  no  soldiers  nor  official  constraints  in  East 
China. 


Industrial  Expansion  in  this  Region 

One  result  of  the  comparative  freedom  from  military  operations 
and  official  graft  has  been  the  remarkably  rapid  industrial  expansion 
of  East  China.  It  is  true  that  this  has  not  proceeded  at  equal  pace 
throughout  the  region,  but  what  we  behold  in  certain  sections  is  an 
indication  of  what  we  may  expect  eventually  in  many  others  and  in 
general  throughout  the  rich  and  fertile  coastal  plain.  Shanghai  has 
had  a marvelous  industrial  expansion  within  the  last  half  dozen 
years,  yet  she  is  not  unique.  The  city  of  Wusih  is  an  outstanding  in- 
stance. There  are  six  flouring  mills  in  the  city  of  Wusih,  producing 
annually  7,000,000  bags  of  flour;  six  cotton  mills,  fifteen  silk  fila- 
tures, eleven  seed-oil  factories,  sixteen  cloth-weaving  mills,  four  soap 
factories,  eleven  rice  mills,  ten  sock-weaving  factories,  and  numerous 
other  industries — all  financed  and  operated  by  the  Chinese  themselves. 


Relation  of  Economic  Ability  to  Mission  Policies 

The  economic  ability  of  a region  in  which  a mission  operates  has 
some  bearing  upon  mission  policies.  It  is  the  aim  of  missionary  effort 
to  plant  autonomous,  self-propagating,  self-supporting  churches.  The 
recent  policy  of  the  Board  has  involved  the  development  of  institu- 
tions, especially  for  the  work  of  higher  education,  whose  overhead 
will  call  for  an  increasing  proportion  of  its  annual  appropriation  to 
the  Mission.  That  measure  of  self-support,  therefore,  which  suc- 
ceeds only  in  pastoral  and  local  maintenance — a goal  still  remote 
enough — does  not  meet  the  demand  for  self-support.  It  is  probably 
true  that  we  shall  have  to  continue  appropriations  for  educational 
institutions  on  an  increasing  scale  for  a great  while  to  come,  yet  we 
should  hope  and  plan  for  a time  when  the  greater  burden  of  support 
shall  pass  to  the  Chinese. 

The  career  of  such  a school  as  the  Southern  Methodists  have  de- 
veloped at  McTyeire  (one  of  the  oldest  and  best  schools  for  girls 
in  China)  has  shown  that  a definitely  planned  program,  directed 
toward  the  securing  of  a financially  competent  patronage,  can  meet, 
even  in  conservative  China,  with  a marked  degree  of  success.  To  be 
sure  the  number  of  such  schools  will  always  be  limited,  for  the  appeal 
is  limited;  and,  moreover,  it  is  true  that  it  is  our  glory  to  preach  the 
gospel  to  the  poor.  But  the  best  way  to  reach  the  poor  is  through  the 
great  self-respecting,  self-supporting  middle  class.  It  is,  I judge, 
the  policy  of  our  Mission  to  cultivate  a prospective  middle  class  pat- 
ronage rather  than  any  other — people  not  too  far  removed  from  the 
level  of  poverty  to  have  become  a social  caste,  while  not,  on  the  other 
hand,  of  the  abject  poor.  It  is  a source  of  gratification  to  President 
White  that  just  this  class  of  students  has  been  attracted  to  Shanghai 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


11 


College.  While  we  naturally  think  of  our  student  bodies  as  furnish- 
ing the  potential  future  religious  leadership  of  our  churches,  we 
should  remember  that  in  time  to  come  a very  large  proportion  of  the 
annual  output  of  these  institutions  will  not  enter  specifically  Chris- 
tian forms  of  service,  but  will  in  this  region  be  increasingly  attract- 
ed by  business  and  industry. 


Our  Future  Lay  Leadership  and  Financial  Strength 

In  our  educational  work  we  should  plan  to  train  these  men  for 
their  manifest  future.  We  cannot  hope  to  extend  our  facilities  to 
cover  the  whole  range  of  need,  particularly  in  the  technical  field,  but 
in  one  or  two  outstanding  directions  we  can  develop  our  institutions 
so  that  they  shall  train  future  business  and  industrial  leaders.  The 
School  of  Business  Administration  looks  in  the  right  direction.  If  it 
can  be  projected  effectively  on  a cooperative  basis,  so  much  the  better; 
but  it  must  be  under  auspices  so  constantly  and  earnestly  Christian 
that  its  students  shall  be  brought  into  the  faith  and  confirmed  in  it 
through  the  very  atmosphere  of  the  institution;  and  it  must  be  so 
effectively  correlated  with  our  other  educational  work  that  students 
from  our  higher  schools  shall  be  easily  and  effectively  directed  to  it. 
There  is  no  crying  demand  and  indeed  no  justification  for  our  entering 
this  field,  in  my  opinion,  except  upon  the  confessedly  and  ardently 
evangelical  basis.  We  want  to  see  a generation  of  Chinese  business  men 
who  shall  also  be  Christian;  but  beyond  that,  we  want  to  raise  up  a 
financially  able  lay  leadership  for  our  churches,  able  to  carry  on 
some  day  without  aid  from  overseas. 

Conserving  the  Output  of  our  Schools 

We  must  so  place,  equip  and  man  our  churches  that  they  shall  en- 
list the  continued  interest  of  these  business  laymen  of  whom  I have 
just  spoken  and  shall  develop  their  stewardship  and  utilize  their  abil- 
ities. It  is  a fact  that  until  recently  we  did  not  have  a type  of  leader- 
ship that  could  command  the  interest  of  the  student  group  to  any  con- 
siderable degree.  But  our  educational  venture  is  bearing  fruit  and 
the  prospect  is  that  we  shall  have  well-trained  men  of  good  ability 
for  all  our  pastorates  in  the  not  far  distant  future.  Shanghai  College 
has  already  justified  the  faith  of  its  founders,  and  yet,  the  institution 
is  only  upon  the  threshold  of  its  greatest  service  in  the  field  of  trained 
pastoral  leadership.  To  mention  only  instances  which  readily  come 
to  mind,  we  have  in  such  men  as  Pastor  Bao  of  Hangchow  ( Shanghai 
'15),  Pastor  Ni  of  Ningpo  (Shanghai  ’16)  and  Pastor  Wu  of  Shang- 
hai North  Church  (Shanghai  ’13)  the  leadership  that  can  win  and 
hold  laymen  of  ability. 

We  shall  have  the  men,  but  we  must  move  wisely  in  the  equipment 
of  our  churches.  If  you  ask  why  we  do  not  at  once  look  to  these  lay- 
men for  the  funds  to  erect  adequate  churches,  my  answer  is  that 
they  are  not  to  any  large  extent  as  yet  men  of  wealth.  Many  of  them 
receive  from  their  graduation  very  good  compensation  for  their  ser- 
vices, so  that  they  can  go  far  toward  financing  a church;  but  they 
have  not  at  this  early  stage  the  independent  means  from  which  to 
draw  large  gifts  for  the  erection  of  church  buildings.  It  is  true  that 
there  is  almost  no  enterprise  which  Ningpo  Chinese  cannot  finance, 
once  we  are  in  position  to  tap  their  resources.  And  yet  the  number 
of  men  of  wealth  in  the  church  membership  is  limited;  most  of  the 
wealth  is  with  the  friendly  citizens,  who  are  beginning  to  prove  a 


12 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


reality  in  China.  There  should,  in  my  judgment,  be  an  adequate 
church  of  an  adapted  institutional  type  at  the  West  Gate  in  Ningpo, 
such  as  would  provide  the  facilities  for  a multiple  point  of  contact 
of  the  church  with  the  needs  of  the  community.  Plans  have  for  a good 
while  been  under  consideration  for  an  institutional  church  in  Hang- 
chow; and  at  the  North  Church,  Shanghai — ^there  most  assuredly, 
I should  say,  there  ought  in  the  not  far  distant  future  to  be  a com- 
munity church  plant,  which  under  the  very  aegis  and  roof -tree  of  the 
church  itself  should  exhibit  manifold  applied  Christianity  such  as 
would  seize  the  talents  and  kindle  the  imagination  of  these  educated 
young  business  men  whom  Wu  is  assembling.  I cannot  easily  overes- 
timate the  enormous  strategic  importance  of  aiding  these  earnest 
young  business  men  in  the  North  Church  to  make  an  adequate  start 
toward  a working  home  for  their  church.  It  is  along  this  line,  too, 
that  we  should  move,  that  we  may  conserve  the  potential  lay  leader- 
ship of  our  College  output  and  enlist  it  in  the  activities  of  the  King- 
dom of  God. 

If  at  these  important  business  centers  we  can  develop  a series  of 
well-equipped  and  strongly-manned  churches,  we  can  then  hope  to 
rally  behind  the  work  in  our  many  smaller  centers  and  out-stations  of 
the  Shanghai-Chekiang  Association,  and  behind  our  institutional  work, 
which  is  ultimately  to  become  theirs,  a strong  group  of  business  men, 
who  will  in  time  become,  as  they  are  in  every  successful  Christian  ven- 
ture, the  veritable  backbone  of  the  church. 

Application  of  the  Intensive  Policy 

The  considerations  I have  urged  concerning  the  development  of 
a responsible  and  responsive  lay  leadership  seem  to  me  at  the  basis 
of  our  whole  East  China  problem.  It  is  of  direct  bearing  upon  the 
question  of  an  intensive  policy.  The  reason  for  an  intensive  policy 
is  that  we  may  be  able  to  put  on  its  feet  and  equip  for  aggresive  cam- 
paigning a Chinese  Christian  community,  a group  of  churches,  which 
shall  be  able  to  win  China  for  Christ. 

Such  issues  as  that  of  the  intensive  policy  are  primarily  matters 
to  be  determined  in  their  broad  outlines  by  the  Boards  here  at  home. 
The  home  office  has  a breadth  of  outlook  absolutely  indispensable  for 
their  formulation.  Presumably  we  know  better  than  any  mission 
can  know  what  the  inauguration  of  such  a policy  should  mean  for  the 
whole  enterprise.  We  are  not  discharging  our  duty  unless  we  are  con- 
tinually looking  ahead  to  gauge  probable  results  and  to  evaluate  con- 
temporary tendencies  in  relation  to  ultimate  objectives.  The  mission- 
ary upon  the  local  field,  for  example,  feels  the  urge  of  a particular 
opportunity,  say  in  education;  he  enters  the  open  door  and  soon  the 
enterprise  levys  an  extraordinary  tax  upon  our  common  treasury. 
Others  do  likewise;  the  whole  movement  becomes  an  intensely  cum- 
ulative one;  and  soon  the  treasury  is  embarrassed  and  the  work  so 
auspiciously  begun  is  crippled  and  hampered,  and  reaches  that  second 
stage  in  its  history  wherein  undertakings  languish  for  want  of  funds 
to  place  them  upon  a minimum  basis  of  efficiency.  No  work  should 
be  initiated  the  probable  volume  of  whose  demand  as  a successful 
enterprise  has  not  been  taken  into  account  by  the  budget-makers  at 
home.  Yes,  we  ought  to  have  faith;  but  the  children  of  this  world 
are  wiser  in  their  day  and  generation  than  the  children  of  light. 
The  fiscal  argument  is  not  the  chief  argument  for  the  intensive  poli- 
cy, but  it  is  a very  real  one.  The  Board  has  to  carry  the  weight  of 
fiscal  responsibility;  it  should,  therefore,  for  that  reason  alone,  have 
the  chief  voice  in  formulating  general  mission  policies. 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


13 


Making  the  Intensive  Policy  Work 

The  application  of  the  intensive  policy,  once  its  broad  general  out- 
lines have  been  determined,  is  chiefly  a matter  for  the  mission.  The 
mission  is  in  much  better  position  than  the  Board  to  know  whether  it 
is  better  to  send  out  another  missionary  for  a given  work  or  to  in- 
crease the  work  appropriation  of  the  missionary  already  there.  Our 
constituency  at  home  is  inclined  to  feel,  I judge,  that  we  must  send 
out  great  numbers  of  new  missionaries.  We  do  need  the  continual 
tide  of  new  blood  flowing  into  the  missions ; but  in  a given  case  it  may 
be  of  far  greater  significance  to  add  to  the  work  appropriation  of  the 
missionary  in  charge — especially  when,  as  in  East  China,  we  are 
graduating  yearly  numbers  of  capable  Chinese  who  should  be  set  to 
work  in  the  field  of  the  mission.  The  fact  is  that  East  China  may  soon 
face  the  necessity  of  placing  a surplusage  of  workers,  graduates  of 
College  and  Seminary;  and  it  should  be  remembered  that  these  men 
cannot  be  expected  to  live  upon  the  stipends  which  the  older  untrained 
men  are  receiving.  It  will  be  high  folly  to  expend  our  resources  in 
training  these  men  for  our  own  Christian  work  and  then  to  lose  them 
for  want  of  funds  which  a different  policy  might  afford  us.  While 
this  is  a vital  issue  in  East  China,  I am  simply  using  it  here  to  illus- 
rate  the  fact  that  the  mission  is  not  seldom  in  better  position  than  the 
Board  to  know  how  to  apply  a principle  of  administration. 


Kinhwa 

It  is  such  considerations  as  those  I have  just  urged  which  give 
me  satisfaction  when  I view  the  action  of  the  East  China  Mission  with 
reference  to  Kinhwa.  It  is  a brave  facing  of  a situation  which 
sooner  or  later  all  our  missions  must  face—that  of  putting  trained 
Chinese  in  charge  and  of  doing  it  without  being  pushed  into  it,  of 
experimenting  that  we  may  find  out  how  best  to  do  it.  The  trained 
output  of  our  schools  will  themselves  increasingly  demand  it,  and  if 
we  are  not  ere  long  to  be  embarrassed  by  the  insistence  of  that  de- 
mand, we  must  arrange  for  just  such  first  steps  as  the  East  China 
Mission  is  taking  at  Kinhwa.  The  danger  is  that  in  other  missions 
the  demand  may  arise  before  we  have  adequate  native  leadership  in 
prospect.  I have  been  profoundly  impressed  during  my  whole  trip 
and  in  this  instance  as  well  by  the  immense  difficulties  of  adminis- 
tering an  enterprise  so  complex  and  so  plastic  as  the  missionary  enter- 
prise, especially  the  difficulties  of  long  range  administration.  With 
all  its  limitations  and  risks,  local  administration  is  imperative;  yet 
it  must  be  so  applied  as  to  fund  the  wisdom  of  the  entire  mission 
upon  the  issue  involved ; it  must  avoid  falling  into  the  hands  of  strong- 
minded  individuals,  and  must  leave  reasonable  executive  freedom  for 
those  who  are  held  responsible  for  results.  Local  administration 
must  be  so  organized  that  it  can  take  over  from  the  home  office  all 
but  the  broadest  matters  of  policy  and  questions  which  by  their 
nature  remain  to  be  handled  by  the  Board.  The  East  China  Mission 
has  gone  far  in  the  direction  of  such  an  organization  and  is  gaining 
an  invaluable  fund  of  experience  as  well  as  securing  results.  Kinhwa 
will  afford  an  excellent  tryout  of  this  theory. 

Chief  Argument  for  an  Intensive  Policy 

It  may  seem,  since  we  have  talked  so  many  years  about  an  inten- 
sive policy,  and  have  also  suffered  for  our  faith  in  it,  that  its  thor- 
nugh-going  application  is  assured.  The  fact  is  that  we  have  an  em- 


14 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


barrassment  of  riches  in  the  extensive  development  of  our  work,  and 
the  limitation  of  our  resources  has  down  to  the  present  prevented 
us  from  putting  our  work  in  general  upon  that  minimum  basis  of 
efficiency  which  is  the  objective  of  the  intensive  policy.  The  chief 
argument  for  the  intensive  policy  is  one  which  over  and  over  again 
has  had  demonstration  in  the  experience  of  the  various  missions. 
One  need  not  withhold  one  jot  of  his  admiration  for  the  heroic  rep- 
resentatives of  the  China  Inland  Mission  when  he  declares  that  the 
China  Inland  Mission  has  given  the  most  significant  demonstration 
of  the  futility  of  a diffusive  policy.  Doubtless  it  has  greater  signifi- 
cance for  a pioneering  stage  of  missionary  endeavor  than  for  any 
later  stage,  but  even  there  its  superiority  is  open  to  gravest  question. 
It  is  far  better  to  do  one  piece  of  mission  work  well  than  to  under- 
take a half-dozen,  which,  for  very  limitation  of  strength  and  re- 
sources, must  be  indifferently  done.  In  the  end  one  piece  of  work  well 
done  will  net  the  Kingdom  of  God  more  than  all  the  rest.  This  princi- 
ple holds  with  reference  to  the  opening  of  outstations,  the  establish- 
ment of  schools,  the  organizing  of  churches,  the  founding  of  acade- 
mies and  colleges,  the  building  of  hospitals  and  the  like.  Just  where 
the  principle  should  be  applied  in  a particular  mission,  the  mission  in 
question  may  be  in  better  position  than  the  Board  to  determine;  but 
that  the  principle  should  govern  all  our  forms  of  endeavor  cannot,  to 
my  way  of  thinking,  be  questioned. 

Maximum  Educational  Efficiency 

Even  when  an  institution  has  less  equipment  than  we  could  wish 
for  a minimum  efficiency  basis,  it  may  face  the  question  of  maximum 
efficiency:  that  is  to  say,  there  is  a point  beyond  which  the  multi- 
plication of  students  lowers  efficiency.  And,  again,  we  may  multiply 
schools  to  a point  where  we  cannot  maintain  average  efficiency.  Our 
mission  schools  are  still  able  to  maintain  educational  respectability. 
But  this  is  always  a relative  affair:  what  is  today’s  respectability 
may  be  tomorrow’s  shame.  So  long  as  China  continues  in  turmoil 
and  her  funds  are  diverted  from  educational  and  constructive  chan- 
nels to  military  outlay  and  graft,  her  schools,  dependent  upon  private 
generosity  to  supplement  the  meager  government  grants,  will  not  be 
difficult  to  equal  nor  even  to  surpass.  Yet  even  now,  in  some  instances, 
such  schools  have  gone  far  ahead  of  neighboring  Christian  schools  in 
material  equipment  and  the  technical  training  of  their  staff.  The 
only  point,  then,  at  which  these  schools  surpass  them  is  in  morale 
and  spirit.  But  Christianity  will  not  win  its  chance  to  place  a reli- 
gious and  moral  stamp  upon  China’s  leaders  if  her  schools  are  upon 
a lower  level  of  equipment  and  staffing  than  the  secular  and  govern- 
ment schools.  But  if  we  are  to  maintain  schools  of  high  efficiency, 
we  shall  have  to  limit  their  number  and  concentrate  our  effort  upon 
a few.  If  in  the  prosecution  of  our  endeavor,  we  find  that  we  have 
more  schools  than  we  can  carry  on  effectively,  we  must  limit  their 
number  or  reduce  the  grade  of  certain  of  them.  The  only  alternative, 
and  it  does  not  prove  to  be  such  in  every  case,  is  to  shift  the  financial 
burden  to  Chinese  shoulders,  as  at  Ding  Hae.  Even  there,  we  do  not 
seem  as  yet  to  have  a case  in  point.  The  days  of  opportunity  of  the 
half-equipped,  meagerly-staffed  school  in  East  China  are  numbered. 


Putting  our  Middle  Schools  on  the  Map 

Once  we  have  decided  upon  the  practicable  maximum  of  middle 
schools  for  this  region,  we  must  see  to  it  that  they  have  plant,  equip- 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


15 


merit  and  staff  which  shall  make  them  equal  to  the  best.  That  is  to 
be  done  at  Ningpo,  in  the  Union  School.  It  must  be  done  elsewhere, 
as  at  Hangchow.  Figures  show  that,  next  to  Ningpo,  Hangchow  has 
been  the  largest  feeder  of  Shanghai  College  of  any  of  our  East  China 
stations.  Wayland  Academy  was  the  second  of  about  twenty  middle 
schools  in  that  district  in  its,  beginning,  but  has  been  outstripped  by 
all  but  a few  in  both  plant  and  student  body.  It  continues  to  do  ex- 
cellent work;  in  fact,  it  is  doing  the  best  work  in  its  history,  edu- 
cationally, and  even  although  its  patronage  is  chiefly  local  and  the 
number  of  students  actually  residing  at  the  Academy  is  relatively 
small,  it  maintains  a vigorous  and  effective  Christian  life  and  actually 
succeeds  in  doing  what  we  wish  such  an  institution  to  accomplish  for 
its  students.  I use  Hangchow,  or  Wayland  Academy,  as  an  instance 
only.  Yet  it  is  an  outstanding  case  of  institutional  need,  for  its  ap- 
proved plans  have  long  been  held  in  abeyance. 


The  Christian  Emphasis  in  our  Schools 

The  only  sort  of  school  which  a missionary  organization  is  jus- 
tified in  maintaining  is  a school  of  positive  Christian  tone.  While 
we  must  have  technically  competent  teachers,  we  need  to  make  sure 
that  these  are  also  warm-hearted,  well-trained  Christians;  for  pos- 
sibly the  most  significant  factor  in  school  life  is  what  we  may  call 
“atmosphere.”  Our  justification  is  not  that  we  impart  knowledge 
alone  but  far  more  that  we  propagate  the  Christian  spirit,  infuse 
knowledge  therewith  and  motivate  its  possessors  thereby.  I have 
reason  to  believe  that  this  view  of  the  case  obtains  almost  universally 
among  our  missionary  educators,  yet,  with  the  demand  for  a higher 
average  of  specialized  preparation  upon  the  part  of  our  teachers, 
we  find  a tendency  to  slur  over  this  demand.  In  the  beginning,  mis- 
sion schools  were  manned  almost  wholly  by  men  of  general  training, 
usually  of  the  ministerial  type.  That  type  of  missionary  was  usually 
warmly  Christian  in  his  approach,  even  although  he  possessed  no 
technical  training  and  perhaps  little  teaching  ability  or  experience. 
Today  we  must  have  specialists;  yet  I know  of  no  reason  why  the 
specialist  should  be  any  less  a warm-hearted  Christian.  But  in  as- 
certaining his  technical  qualifications,  we  may  be  in  danger  of  failing 
to  ask  the  even  more  urgent  question  whether  he  is  an  enthusiastic 
Christian  and  able  to  project  his  faith  as  well  as  to  teach  the  facts 
of  his  department.  We  must  see  to  it  that  the  educationally  compe- 
tent man  whom  we  send  out  is  also  spiritually  competent  and  a 
trained  Christian.  Every  piece*  of  educational  work  we  do  should  be 
an  irreproachable  demonstration,  but  above  all  we  must  demonstrate 
the  life  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the  midst  of  our  schools. 


The  Upper  Limit  of  Shanghai  College 

The  College  has  made  an  enviable  record.  It  is  true  that  we  have 
run  perilously  near  the  line  of  understaffing  at  times,  and  it  is  true 
that  here,  as  elsewhere  in  our  educational  work,  we  have  placed  very 
grave  responsibilities  on  the  shoulders  of  very  young  and  inexperi- 
enced professors.  They  have  done  very  good  work  and  met  this 
challenge  nobly,  but  without  doubt  it  is  just  this  thing  which  has 
tended  in  some  instances  to  minimize  the  effectiveness  of  mission  in- 
stitutions. The  better  institutions  at  home  follow  a different  course. 
But  in  addition  to  these  problems,  Shanghai  is  even  now  facing  the 
question  of  maximum  limits.  How  large  an  institution  can  be  effec- 


16 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


tively  maintained?  It  would  be  possible  within  a very  few  years  to 
enroll  scores  of  students  above  the  maximum  limit.  This  should 
mean  that  to  a large  degree  the  College  can  pick  its  student  body, 
and  thus  obtain  the  type  of  student  most  desired. 


Co-education  and  Graduate  Schools 

Even  if  it  should  mean  some  limitation  upon  the  ability  of  the  Col- 
lege to  proceed  in  other  desirable  developments,  I am  convincd  that  it 
should  go  ahead  with  the  experiment  of  co-education.  Co-education 
is  no  experiment  in  America  and  need  not  long  be  such  in  China,  with 
the  vast  preponderance  of  approval  among  those  now  concerned.  In 
any  case,  the  financial  reason  for  co-education  in  China  is  an  over- 
whelming one.  If  we  in  America  have  been  practically  forced  to  it 
in  our  public  school  and  state  university  system,  what  shall  we  think 
of  China’s  ability  to  maintain  parallel  systems?  And  there  is  the 
further  social  reason,  that  such  a plan  will  bring  the  sexes  into  whole- 
some social  relations  and  thus  help  to  forestall  the  social  disaster 
which  seems  to  lurk  within  the  new-found  freedom  of  the  Chinese 
woman. 

But  this  is  only  one  development  which  is  to  be  considered.  There 
is  a time  in  its  history  when  every  small  college  is  tempted  to  think 
of  a future  when  it  will  be  a university,  but  some  small  colleges  have 
bravely  refused  even  to  dream  of  such  an  estate.  The  mission  college 
has  not  escaped  this  temptation  and  has  sometimes  expanded  far  be- 
yond minimum  limits  of  efficiency.  I am  fully  convinced  that  we 
cannot  do  justice  to  the  future  if  at  Shanghai  we  obligate  ourselves 
to  support  a series  of  graduate  schools.  There  does  seem  to  me  to  be 
a very  significant  demand  for  the  School  of  Business  Administration. 
I heard  talk  of  a movement  to  establish  by  co-operation  among  the 
missions  a School  of  Medicine  at  Shanghai.  I believe  that  there 
should  be  a School  of  Medicine  at  Shanghai  which  should  serve  the 
whole  region.  But  we  cannot  aiford  to  undertake  graduate  work  that 
will  reduce  the  effectiveness  of  what  we  have  already  undertaken. 
If  we  should  enter  the  suggested  co-operative  scheme  for  a School  of 
Business  Administration,  we  ought  to  face  the  question  whether  a 
school  dissociated  from  the  colleges  and  their  resident  student  bodies, 
and  located  in  the  heart  of  Shanghai,  would  be  likely  to  maintain 
an  atmosphere  in  which  students  could  be  won  to  Christianity  and 
would  be  supported  in  an  active  Christian  life. 


Our  Evangelistic  Problem 

In  time  past  there  has  been  a good  deal  of  discussion  of  the  rela- 
tive claims  of  education  upon  staff  and  budget,  and  sometimes  with 
the  implication  that  the  two  are  opposed  to  each  other.  The  only  sort 
of  educational  effort  in  which  we  are  justified  in  engaging  is,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  proving  our  most  effective  means  of  evangelizing  the 
people  who  will  have  most  to  say  about  China’s  future  and  who  will 
mean  most  for  the  future  of  the  church.  We  could  easily  concentrate 
upon  a policy  of  diffusive  evangelism  and  by  itinerating  continuously 
our  missionaries  could  win  a good  many  adherents  to  Christianity, 
and  it  would  be  worth  while.  But  we  have  not  and  shall  never  have 
the  means  to  make  more  than  a good  beginning  of  field  evangelism; 
that,  in  the  end,  is  the  problem  of  the  Chinese  church.  It  is  our  busi- 
ness, primarily,  as  I conceive  it,  to  evangelize  a leadership  and  a 
working  constituency  in  properly  located  centers,  and  thus  to  es- 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


17 


tablish  what  will  be  vigorous  propagating  churches.  At  the  same 
time,  to  nucleate  Christianity  effectively  in  a series  of  live  churches  is 
no  small  undertaking;  for  those  churches  must  themselves,  from  the 
beginning,  be  evangelistic,  and  this  means  that  we  must,  from  the 
very  start,  over  limited  areas  to  be  sure,  prosecute  field  evangelism. 
Otherwise  our  churches  at  the  center  may  easily  become  self-satisfied, 
non-propagating  organizations.  But  in  East  China  we  are  now  sure- 
ly at  the  point  where  the  sending  out  of  large  numbers  of  missionaries 
to  become  itinerating  evangelists  will  give  place  to  the  employment 
and  direction  of  the  increasing  output  of  trained  native  workers 
coming  to  us  from  Shanghai.  We  shall  need  for  this  work  only  so 
much  foreign  staff,  therefore,  as  may  be  required  to  initiate,  organize 
and  direct  the  work  of  the  Chinese.  If  for  the  next  few  years  we 
should  be  able  to  spend  more  money  on  what  we  term  station  evan- 
gelistic work,  it  would  be  well  to  ask  whether  increased  work  appro- 
priations and  equipment  rather  than  a large  number  of  new  mission- 
aries will  not  be  wiser. 


Transfer  of  Responsibility:  Relation  to  Self-Support 

All  our  efforts  look  to  an  ultimate  transfer  of  executive  responsi- 
bility. We  may  very  well  insist  that  there  is  some  intrinsic  relation 
between  financial  and  executive  responsibility.  We  should  not  be 
likely  to  question  the  right  of  a group  of  Chinese  Christians  to  admin- 
ister in  entirety  any  enterprise  which  they  wholly  financed.  But  it 
will  be  a long  time  before  that  condition  will  be  reached,  and  if  ad- 
ministrative authority  is  to  be  gauged  by  the  ratio  of  Chinese  to  for- 
eign gifts,  to  say  nothing  of  self-support,  the  Chinese  leaders  are 
likely  to  become  restive  under  the  limitations  thus  imposed.  Self- 
support  seems  sufficiently  remote,  but  we  need  also  to  take  into  ac- 
count that  it  will  be  relatively  further  away,  for  a time  at  any  rate, 
as  we  employ  the  fully  trained  men  from  our  college  and  Seminary. 
They  can  command  more  money  and  will  cost  the  churches  more.  In 
time,  to  be  sure,  they  should  be  able  to  raise  more  money  from  the 
native  constituency  than  the  untrained  leaders  could;  but  that  will 
not  occur  at  the  outset.  The  Shanghai-Chekiang  Association  gives 
limited  scope  for  the  administrative  gifts  of  these  young  leaders, 
since  the  Association  shares  to  some  extent  in  the  administration  of 
the  Mission’s  budget.  If  we  whole-heartedly  carry  out  the  Kinhwa 
experiment,  we  may  find  that  we  have  here  the  desired  solution  and 
that  we  shall  thus  discover  the  way  to  further  steps  in  devolution. 


The  Function  of  Medical  Missions 

I am  heartily  glad  that  in  East  China  our  medical  policy  involves 
so  good  a degree  of  co-operation  with  other  missions.  It  is  not  al- 
ways possible,  where  territory  is  completely  allocated  on  a comity 
basis,  to  enter  into  such  relationships ; but  where  missions  are  situated 
as  ours  is  in  East  China,  there  seems  to  be  no  justification  of  dupli- 
cate medical  agencies. 

I am  convinced,  however,  that  we  need  to  think  through  the  ques- 
tion of  the  function  of  medical  missions.  Unquestionably  the  dis- 
pensary and  hospital  are  direct  evangelizing  agencies;  the  doctor 
not  seldom  gains  a hearing  which  others  are  denied.  What  he  may 
make  of  his  opportunity  will  depend  very  much  upon  his  gifts  and 
his  zeal.  It  is  quite  possible  to  hold  that  the  main  objective  of  the 


18 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


medical  mission,  if  not  its  sole  raison  d’etre,  is  the  winning  of  men’s 
souls.  It  is  equally  possible,  however,  to  see  the  relation  of  the 
medical  missionary  to  the  community  from  a somewhat  different 
angle.  From  this  point  of  view,  the  medical  missionary  becomes 
the  most  effective  preacher  of  a social  Christianity  which  is  destined 
to  carry  into  the  homes  and  schools,  and  indeed  into  the  whole  or- 
ganization' of  community  life,  the  cleansing  force  of  Christian  ideals 
and  of  the  Christian  spirit.  In  a word,  medical  missions  in  this 
constructive  aspect  are  needed  for  the  complete  proclamation  of  our 
gospel.  If  we  view  our  task  from  this  angle,  without  at  all  mini- 
mizing the  value  of  the  medical  missionary’s  opportunity  for  personal 
evangelistic  appeal,  we  shall  discover  that  we  have  a direct  function 
in  the  field  of  preventive  medicine  and  of  public  health.  I shall  have 
occasion  to  refer  to  this  matter  again,  in  my  report  upon  the  West 
China  medical  work. 


The  East  China  Conference 

As  you  are  quite  aware,  I was  present  throughout  the  sessions 
of  the  annual  conference  of  our  East  China  Mission,  August  22  to 
31,  1920.  I gained  quite  as  much  from  the  discussions  of  the  con- 
ference as  from  my  actual  visitation  of  the  stations  of  the  Mission. 
I was  impressed  by  the  earnestness  with  which  the  missionary  body 
approaches  its  problems.  Differences  in  point  of  view  and  con- 
viction were  at  once  apparent  and  opposing  policies  were  not  seldom 
urged  with  some  vehemency;  but  I found,  on  the  whole,  a very  fine 
Christian  courtesy  expressed  in  all  the  activities  of  the  conference. 
The  final  attitude  seemed  to  me  that  of  allowing  every  question  to 
stand  upon  its  merits,  sentimental  and  personal  considerations  being 
put  one  side.  My  contact  with  the  Reference  Committee  of  the 
Mission,  in  the  several  sessions  which  I was  privileged  to  attend, 
made  apparent  to  me  the  values  of  the  type  of  organization  which 
we  find  in  the  East  China  Mission.  There  was  a thoroughness  and 
competency  in  this  Committee  which  gave  me  assurance  that  the 
East  China  Mission  is  not  likely  ever  to  become  a “one-man  affair.” 
The  effort  is  made  to  fund  the  wisdom  of  the  Mission  upon  every 
crucial  point. 

I must  also  say  a word,  in  this  connection,  concerning  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Mission,  Dr.  J.  T.  Proctor.  His  administrative  ability 
is  everywhere  in  evidence.  A man  of  strong  convictions,  and  there- 
fore likely  to  be  urgent  in  his  attitude  toward  cardinal  questions, 
he  is  at  the  same  time  endowed  with  the  spirit  of  fairness  and  to  a 
high  degree  with  judicial  temper.  No  man  in  the  East  China  region 
has  higher  standing  as  a missionary  administrator,  and  he  is  much 
in  demand  for  counsel  and  assistance  by  the  general  agencies,  such 
as  the  China  Continuation  Committee. 


2.  THE  SOUTH  CHINA  MISSION 

My  opportunity  for  a survey  of  the  work  in  South  China  was 
less  ample  than  that  afforded  by  my  visit  to  East  China.  Much  that 
I have  said  concerning  general  mission  policies  in  the  section  dealing 
with  the  East  China  Mission  applies  here.  For  that  reason,  and  be- 
cause I do  not  feel  qualified  to  discuss  some  phases  of  the  South 
China  situation  in  their  true  perspective,  this  section  of  the  report 
will  of  necessity  be  somewhat  abridged. 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


19 


Industrial  and  Commercial  Development 

South  China  shares  the  relative  accessibility  of  East  China  but 
has  suffered  more  from  the  uncertainties  of  the  political  situation. 
Military  occupancy  and  operations  have  to  some  degree  interfered 
with  missionary  work,  for,  although  Canton  has  been  the  natural 
objective  of  contending  armies,  Swatow  and  vicinity  have  not  wholly 
escaped. 

There  is  a very  considerable  industrial  and  commercial  develop- 
ment in  Swatow  and  immediate  vicinity.  Although  the  district  as  a 
whole  is  rated  as  purely  agricultural,  there  is  an  expansion  of  trade, 
due  in  part  to  the  rise  of  certain  industries  at  this  center.  Accord- 
ing to  the  Customs  report,  Swatow  stands  fifth  (or  seventh,  if  one 
adds  Dairen  and  Tsingtau,'  which  are  semi-foreign  cities)  in  customs 
revenue  returns.  As  one  travels  about  and  notes  the  relative 
meagerness  of  the  standard  of  life  which  obtains,  he  is  quite  sur- 
prised at  the  buying  capacity  of  the  people  of  this  district.  As  an 
increasingly  important  commercial  center,  Swatow  will  see  a growing 
demand  for  the  output  of  our  schools  in  business,  industry  and  trade; 
and  we  shall  doubtless  find  Swatow  affording  a challenge  somewhat 
similar  to  that  which  we  noted  at  Shanghai,  with  a corresponding 
opportunity  to  build  up  a financially  competent  lay  leadership. 


The  Achievement  at  Kakchieh 

One  cannot  fail  to  be  impressed  by  Kakchieh.  Nowhere  in 
our  missions  in  China  did  I find  anything  approaching  the  volume 
of  Christian  activity  which  discovers  itself  on  the  Kakchieh  com- 
pound. The  transformation  of  this  rocky  isle  into  a veritable 
garden  of  the  Lord,  or,  to  change  the  figure,  a beehive  of  Christian 
activity  embowered  in  most  delightful  semi-tropical  setting,  is  one 
of  the  marvels  of  missionary  achievement.  The  processes  of  Chris- 
tian character-building  which  are  under  way  there  are  a most  heart- 
ening array.  The  educational  opportunity  which  Kakchieh  now  of- 
fers the  Chinese  Christian  community  goes  far  to  make  up  for  the 
years  when  such  opportunity  was  lacking.  Gradually  this  Mission 
is  raising  up  a trained  leadership,  and  the  first  fruits  of  college 
training,  at  Shanghai  or  abroad,  were  evidenced  very  prominently 
at  the  Sixtieth  Anniversary  of  the  Mission.  The  day  when  a South 
China  church  can  be  content  with  a pastor  who  has  perhaps  not 
even  had  full  higher  primary  training  will  soon  pass  and  the  day 
of  the  trained  leader  will  arrive.  When  that  day  shall  arrive,  it  will 
mark  a new  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  Mission.  Year  by  year  the 
Seminary  is  sending  out  better  prepared  ministers  and  the  standards 
of  the  churches  are  correspondingly  elevated. 


The  Sixtieth  Anniversary  of  the  Mission 

Westerners  do  not  appreciate  the  significance  of  the  sixty-year 
cycle  in  the  eyes  of  the  Chinese.  It  marks  an  epoch,  whether  in 
the  life  of  an  individual  or  of  an  institution.  Consequently  a great 
deal  more  meaning  was  attached  to  the  celebration  by  our  Chinese 
brethren  than  we  should  be  inclined  to  give  it.  There  was  a keen- 
ness of  attention  and  a very  apparent  depth  of  appreciation  which 
were  to  me  most  significant.  The  exercises  of  that  occasion  were 
carefully  planned  to  give  the  delegates  from  the  churches  a well- 
defined  impression  of  the  bigness  of  our  faith  and  the  magnitude  of 


20 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


our  task.  Both  in  the  review  of  achievements,  in  the  addresses 
interpretive  of  our  Christian  faith  and  especially  in  the  addresses 
of  the  young  Chinese  leaders,  there  was  a rich  fund  of  material 
for  reflection  and  future  reference.  The  anniversary  contributed  to 
the  Chinese  churches  a sense  of  achievement  and  of  fellowship  in  the 
^eat  Christian  community  which  should  mean  much  to  them  in  the 
immediate  future. 

The  Future  Policy  of  Swatow  Academy 

The  Academy  in  Swatow  is  an  impressive  and  inspiring  piece  of 
educational  missions;  it  is  also  an  aspiring  institution,  not  content 
to  remain  a mere  academy,  but  bent  on  becoming  a real  Junior  Col- 
lege. Whether,  as  things  are,  this  is  the  wise  course  is  open  to 
question.  First,  there  is  the  financial  aspect  of  the  matter;  a Junior 
College  involves  a much  bigger  budget  than  the  maintenance  of  an 
Academy  calls  for.  Moreover,  operating  within  the  probable  limits 
of  the  budget  of  the  next  few  years,  the  Junior  College  would  not 
be  likely  to  articulate  with  Shanghai  College  effectively,  for  the  work 
there  is  rather  markedly  differentiated  in  the  five  groups,  as  early 
as  the  Freshman  year.  It  has  been  suggested  by  President  White, 
I believe,  that  it  might  be  better  to  develop  at  Swatow  a Junior 
School  of  Business  Administration  and  to  work  directly  for  the 
meeting  of  a manifest  need  of  the  community  as  well  as  for  the 
upbuilding  of  a strong  lay  constituency.  In  view  of  the  commercial 
and  industrial  development  of  the  region,  this  suggestion  seems  a 
valuable  one.  The  same  outcome  as  in  the  case  of  Shanghai  could 
be  anticipated. 

If  there  were  to  be  a second  development  beyond  the  academy 
courses,  it  seems  to  me  that  it  might  well  be  in  the  preparation  of 
teachers:  that  is,  in  addition  to  the  teachers’  secondary  courses  of- 
fered at  present,  it  might  be  possible  to  develop  an  advanced  course 
for  teachers.  Even  if,  with  the  suggested  School  of  Business  Ad- 
ministration, this  should  cost  as  much  as  a well-equipped  Junior 
College,  it  will  meet  a more  direct  need  and  greater  values  will 
accrue  to  the  work  of  the  Mission  in  j'^ears  to  come.  The  real 
question  is  whether  we  are  prepared  to  suggest  any  advance  at  this 
time;  we  must  be  sure  that  we  are  prepared  to  equip  and  finance 
such  an  institution  before  we  go  ahead.  Let  us  not  proceed  until  we 
are  reasonably  assured  of  our  ability  to  carry  on. 


Our  Educational  Crisis 

I was  privileged  to  visit  the  station  schools  in  Swatow  City, 
Chow-chow-fu,  Chaoyang  and  Kityang,  and  I saw  much  of  promise. 
I was  not  able  to  see  the  Academy  at  Kaying  and  the  High  School 
at  Hopo,  much  to  my  re^et.  It  is  still  true  in  the  main  throughout 
the  Mission,  as  at  Kaying,  that  our  schools  offer  in  almost  every 
department  better  training  than  can  be  had  in  the  government 
schools.  But  it  is  also  true  that  there  is  sad  need  for  more  adequate 
buildings  and  better  equipment  and  a larger  number  of  really 
competent  teachers.  The  development  of  a full-fledged  middle  school 
at  each  of  our  stations  would  be  an  admirable  achievement.  The 
missionaries  are  everywhere  saying  that  the  school  work  must  be 
made  more  adequate  and  pushed  with  enthusiasm.  But  this  con- 
stitutes for  both  the  Mission  and  the  Board  a rather  serious  problem. 
There  is  real  risk  of  an  early  diffusion  of  effort  which  will 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


21 


jeopardize  our  future  school  work.  This  risk  is  rendered  the  greater 
by  the  fact  of  an  early  evangelistic  expansion  which  gave  our  South 
China  Mission  a larger  percentage  of  churches  in  proportion  to  its 
membership  than  any  other  of  the  ten  missions  of  our  Society.  The 
policy  has  been  that  of  evangelistic  expansion,  although  the  tendency 
at  the  present  time  is  toward  intension,  if  for  no  other  reason  than 
that  we  have  reached  the  limit  of  our  ability  to  staff  the  stations. 
Now  if  we  are  to  develop  adequate  primary  and  secondary  schools 
in  all  of  these  centers,  we  shall  face  a large  increase  in  annual  ex- 
penditure for  education  on  this  score  alone.  We  have,  as  the  latest 
report  shows,  164  primary  schools  and  only  18  secondary  schools. 
How  shall  an  intensive  educational  policy  be  fitted  upon  the  substruc- 
ture of  an  expansive  evangelistic  policy?  Or  is  this  crisis  only  in 
my  mind? 

The  Problem  Arising  from  the  Large  Number  of  Churches 

One  can  but  admire  the  evangelistic  zeal  which  has  multiplied 
converts  in  this  field  over  a very  wide  area.  But  the  result  of  the 
expansive  policy  in  evangelism  has  been  to  develop  a small  work  at  a 
very  large  number  of  centers,  all  of  which  require  manning  and  super- 
vision. To  be  sure,  since  there  are  139  churches  and  but  9^2  preachers 
(eight  of  whom  are  ordained),  it  is  quite  impossible  that  each  should 
have  a preacher.  In  fact  no  attempt  is  as  yet  made  to  proivde  each 
church  with  a settled  pastor.  But  at  the  same  time,  the  very  or- 
ganization of  a church  looks  toward  such  a time.  It  will,  however, 
be  a good  while  before  we  shall  have  a supply  of  trained  men  suffi- 
cient to  man  all  these  centers,  even  if  these  small  churches  could 
each  maintain  a trained  minister.  The  twenty  churches  now  re- 
ported as  self-supporting  would  be  a dwindling  list  if  they  were 
to  get  beneath  the  support  of  a settled  pastor  of  full  college  and 
seminary  type. 

If  it  is  proposed  to  do  more  than  pay  occasional  visits  to  outsta- 
tions,  say  in  such  a field  as  Kityang,  where  there  are  43  outstations 
and  42  organized  churches;  that  is,  if  local  schools,  adequate  housing, 
more  nearly  adequate  pastoral  supervision  are  to  be  provided,  there 
will  be  an  amazing  increase  in  the  fiscal  demand.  Otherwise,  as 
heretofore,  the  pastor  will  continue  to  be  teacher;  the  school  will 
be  poorly  housed  and  without  equipment;  and  the  work  will  suffer 
commensurate  limitation.  If  we  are  obliged  frequently,  as  now,  to 
leave  such  a station  as  Unkung,  without  resident  missionary,  or  to 
leave  such  a station  as  Kityang  with  but  one  inexperienced  man,  it 
may  well  occur  to  us  to  ask  what  is  likely  to  happen  on  these  big  fields 
with  their  23  and  42  organized  churches  respectively. 


Our  Embarrassment  of  Riches 

The  Mission  is  grappling  with  this  problem,  but  it  is  also  a 
matter  for  the  Board  to  consider.  We  have  what  we  may  term 
either  “an  embarrassment  of  riches”  or  “an  embarrassment  of 
poverty”  according  to  the  way  you  view  it.  I do  not  suggest  that 
it  is  either  possible  or  desirable  to  reverse  the  history  of  the  Mission. 
I am  but  suggesting  that  in  the  future  we  consider  the  problem  of 
maximum  limits.  When  a work  of  this  type  reaches  a certain  level, 
not  determinable  in  advance  but  none  the  less  certain,  a stage  which 
our  South  China  work  seems  to  approximate,  it  is  a grave  question 
how  much  further  it  is  likely  to  proceed  successfully  without  such 


22 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


reorganization,  increase  of  staffing  and  supply  of  housing  and 
equipment  as  shall  lift  it  to  a wholly  new  level.  The  problem  of 
achieving  a self-supporting  church  which  shall  also  possess  vigor 
and  initiative  must  be  faced  when  we  discuss  whether  the  future 
shall  be  worked  out  on  the  general  basis  of  past  policy,  a rather 
frankly  expansive  evangelistic  policy.  In  the  event  of  our  inability 
to  put  more  into  the  work  in  the  near  future,  we  must  seek  some 
other  approach  to  increased  efficiency.  I wish  that  it  might  ^ be 
possible  for  us  to  concentrate  upon  the  making  of  an  effective  im- 
pression at  strategic  centers,  as  we  are  doing  in  the  institutional 
work  at  Swatow  and  are  in  a good  way  to  do  at  Chow-chow-fu,  where 
we  have  a splendid  central  location.  It  is  quite  possible  that  we 
may  be  able  to  enlist  for  important  phases  of  our  work,  certainly  the 
educational  and  the  medical,  no  small  amount  of  native  means  from 
the  community  outside  the  church — as  we  are  now  doing  in  various 
centers.  (Note  the  offers  made  by  the  elders  of  Hopo  and  of  Tong 
Kang,  as  reported  in  the  recent  Minutes  of  the  Reference  Committee, 
April  14-17,  1921.) 

The  Institutional  Work  at  Swatow 

While  I did  not  see  the  work  actually  in  process  within  the  new 
building,  I saw  it  in  process.  The  new  plant  seems  to  me  admirably 
adapted  to  the  housing  of  a going  concern  such  as  we  have  in 
Swatow  City.  I look  for  a splendid  development  at  that  center.  But 
we  should  not  get  the  impression  that  the  duplication  of  that  plant 
or  of  any  other  particular  type  of  plant  is  the  key  to  our  city  prob- 
lem. The  fact  is  that  an  institutional  plant  must  grow  up  around  a 
group  of  activities  and  should  take  permanent  form  only  when  we  are 
fairly  able,  as  here,  to  discover  what  we  can  and  should  do  in  the 
community.  In  consequence  we  should  expect  a good  degree  of 
variety  in  the  institutional  plants  at  our  various  centers.  Not  an 
activity  was  provided  for  at  Swatow  which  was  not  already  in 
vigorous  process  when  the  building  was  planned;  and  yet  a plant 
so  extensive  gives  considerable  room  for  development  and  modification 
of  program  through  experience. 


Medical  Policy  in  South  China 

The  development  of  a medical  policy  in  South  China,  which  has 
been  a slow  process,  seems  now  to  have  been  achieved.  The  plan  to 
place  a central  hospital  at  Kityang  commends  itself  as,  on  the  whole, 
the  most  practicable,  as  Kityang  has  greater  accessibility  from  the 
entire  field  than  any  other  point,  and  also  has  the  advantage  of 
possessing  a developed  women’s  hospital.  It  was  what  I saw  at 
Chaoyang  that  led  me  to  a rather  vigorous  statement  in  my  earlier 
report  that  the  Board  is  not  justified  in  sending  out  medical  men  with- 
out also  providing  them  with  such  a plant,  whether  dispensary  or  hos- 
pital, as  shall  assure  maximum  usefulness.  We  have  set  too  many  men 
at  work  making  bricks  without  straw ; they  have  vindicated  their  own 
worth,  as  a rule,  but  not  the  wisdom  of  our  policy.  Neither  Dr. 
Lesher  at  Chaoyang  nor  Dr.  Newman  at  Unkung  had  such  equipment. 
That  each  of  them  did  a worthy  work  is  not  at  all  the  issue;  neither 
could  possibly  make  the  impression  which  he  might  have  made  with 
a different  material  backing.  We  can,  of  course,  maintain  itinerating 
medical  evangelists,  if  we  wish;  but  it  is  quite  another  thing  to  es- 
tablish permanent  local  centers  of  evangelism  and  Christian  sociali- 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


23 


zation  through  the  ministry  of  medicine.  We  have  still  to  det  nine, 
to  a good  degree  I judge,  what  we  wish  to  accomplish  thro^  . our 
medical  missions.  I am  hoping  that  hereafter,  when  we  sena  jut  a 
medical  man,  we  shall  give  him  the  working  basis  which  a ma  i.num 
efficiency  demands.  A log  with  Mark  Hopkins  at  one  end  may  b ^ome 
a university,  but  I doubt  whether  a cowshed,  even  with  Peter 
Parker  in  charge,  can  become  an  efficient  hospital. 


The  Secretaryship 

You  all  know  what  a vigorous,  effective  personality  Dr.  Groes- 
beck  is.  But  you  know,  too,  how  multiplied  are  the  demands  upon 
his  time  and  strength.  South  China  ought,  in  my  judgment,  to  have 
the  whole  time  of  a man  for  its  secretariate.  He  might  then,  in 
emergency,  do  what  Dr.  Groesbeck  has  endeavored  to  do  for  Unkung, 
even  while  his  chief  station  responsibility  was  at  Chaoyang.  We 
cannot  do  justice  to  the  demands  of  the  work  in  a great  city  like 
Chaoyang  by  giving  it  a fraction  of  one  man’s  time,  even  if  that 
man  is  Dr.  Groesbeck.  The  field  of  the  South  China  Mission  is 
sufficiently  compact  to  enable  a Secretary,  freed  from  local  station 
responsibility,  to  do  a good  deal  of  field  work  with  fine  results.  I 
trust  that  the  time  may  not  be  far  distant  when  Dr.  Groesbeck  may 
be  allowed  his  full  time  for  the  Secretary’s  task.  I want  to  say  that 
this  expression  is  not  at  all  at  Dr.  Groesbeck’s  suggestion.  It  is 
wholly  my  own  reaction  to  the  situation  in  the  South  China  field. 


3.  THE  WEST  CHINA  MISSION 

West  China,  as  you  will  recall,  was  a principal  objective  of  my 
trip.  The  proportion  of  time  which  I gave  it  was,  however,  due  in 
part  to  the  exigencies  of  the  journey.  I judge  that  if  a Secretary 
of  our  Board  were  to  go  to  West  China  in  the  autumn,  leaving 
Shanghai  in  September,  he  might  make  the  round  trip  in  two  or 
two  and  a half  months  and  visit  all  our  stations  briefly.  He  would 
not,  however,  be  able  to  attend  the  annual  conference  unless  the 
date  were  changed.  The  season  is  suggested  as  affording  the 
possibility  of  going  all  the  way  to  Kiating  by  steamer. 


West  China  in  General 

Your  attention  should  be  called  to  the  fact  that  West  China  is 
the  most  perturbed  region  in  which  we  are  at  work  in  China.  The 
difficulties,  the  risks,  the  strain  which  the  women  of  our  Mission  in 
particular  must  endure,  call  for  an  unusual  degree  of  consideration 
upon  the  part  of  our  Board.  Nor  have  I reckoned  here  with  the 
political  situation,  the  perturbed  condition  of  the  whole  of  West 
China,  which  increases  the  missionary  burden  incalculably.  And 
when  one  judges  of  results,  he  must  bear  in  mind  that  these  have 
been  achieved  in  spite  of  all  the  untoward  conditions  which,  taken 
together,  tend  to  disorganize  the  life  of  the  Chinese  and  to  turn  their 
attention  away  from  anything  but  the  merest  concerns  of  safety  and 
subsistence. 

We  should  also  note  that  the  relative  degree  of  commercial  and 
industrial  development  in  West  China  is  slight.  It  is  true  that  at 
Chungking  and  elsewhere  one  finds  the  Standard  Oil  and  Asiatic 


24 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


Petroleum  companies,  the  Singer  Sewing  Machine,  Western  To- 
bacco and  drugs.  But  so  far  as  Chinese  business  and  industry  are 
concerned,  they  are  still  mainly,  indeed  almost  exclusively,  upon  the 
old  trade-guild  handicraft  basis.  I visited  a great  silk  filature  in 
Kiating,  however,  where  more  than  four  hundred  persons  were  em- 
ployed, and  where  the  latest  machinery  was  in  use,  the  power  being 
steam.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  there  would  be  a rapid  expansion 
of  trade  and  a very  marked  industrial  development,  could  there  once 
be  an  assured  pacification  of  the  country.  On  the  whole,  however, 
for  the  present  and  for  a good  while  to  come,  we  must  face  a situ- 
ation in  which  the  average  church  will  probably  lack  any  high  degree 
of  financial  ability,  for  the  people,  in  spite  of  the  vast  natural  wealth 
of  the  province,  are,  with  some  notable  exceptions,  a poor  people.  For 
all  its  vast  mineral  wealth,  Szechuan  is  as  yet  an  agricultural  region, 
with  the  advantage  that  famine  is  unknown  and  crops  as  certain  as 
in  any  part  of  China.  But  agriculture  remains  upon  its  old  level, 
while  the  people  face  a rising  scale  of  prices.  The  immediate  pros- 
pect of  a strong  self-supporting  work  is  limited  by  this  general 
consideration. 

The  Relative  Extent  of  our  Field 

I was  impressed  at  once  with  the  “magnificent  distances”  which 
West  China  affords.  These  distances  are  actual,  for  I travelled  in 
my  round  trip  between  2,000  and  2,500  miles  inside  the  province. 
The  distances  are  also  relative,  that  is  to  say,  the  slowness  of  or- 
dinary travel  multiplies  them,  so  that  they  are  much  greater  in  pro- 
portion than  those  which  our  representatives  have  to  cover  in  any 
other  of  the  five  missions  which  I visited.  One  can  see  by  looking 
at  the  map  of  Szechuan  that  it  is  an  immense  province,  but  one  must 
also  correct  that  relative  greatness  of  distance  by  the  rate  of  travel 
and  the  comparative  topography;  so  corrected,  the  relative  distances 
of  Szechuan  are  vastly  augmented.  We  have  the  advantage  that  the 
people,  with  the  exception  of  the  aborigines,  speak  the  same  dialect 
throughout  our  field,  so  that  you  can  be  understood  anywhere  if 
you  speak  the  Chinese  of  West  China.  That  is  an  advantage  over 
other  districts;  but  the  relative  isolation  of  our  West  China  sta- 
tions is  much  greater  than  that  of  the  average  station  in  East  or 
South  China.  In  West  China,  taking  Chengtu  as  our  base,  the 
nearest  station  is  four  days  distant  and  the  remotest  stations  are 
nine  and  sixteen  days  distant.  Any  station  in  the  Philippines  is  less 
than  a day’s  journey  from  Iloilo;  any  station  in  Japan  is  less  than 
twenty-four  hours  away  from  Tokyo;  any  station  in  East  China 
except  Kinhwa,  is  within  a day’s  journey  from  Shanghai;  and  South 
China  remains  the  only  field  which  has  any  stations  at  all  approach- 
ing for  isolation  the  stations  of  our  West  China  Mission — and  there 
we  have  five  of  the  most  important  centers  but  a few  hours’  run 
from  Kakchieh. 


Ningyuenfu  and  the  Intensive  Policy 

If  we  are  prepared  to  face  the  demands  of  an  expansive  policy, 
we  can  spread  ourselves  in  West  China,  for  vast  areas  invite  us. 
Even  among  the  fastnesses  of  the  western  mountain  ranges  there 
are  aboriginal  tribes — notably  the  Lolos  and  the  Miaos — -numbering 
thousands  of  people,  who  are  relatively  without  religious  oppor- 
tunity. But  even  if  one  leave  these  people,  whose  evangelization  is 
a separate  problem  from  that  of  reaching  the  Chinese  in  the  farther 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


25 


West  of  Szechuan,  out  of  the  reckoning  for  the  time  being,  he  dis- 
covers that  the  Chinese  population  of  those  vast  stretches  of  the 
west  and  southwest  of  the  Province  is  comparatively  sparse.  We 
may  there  spread  ourselves  more  or  less  ineffectively  over  wide 
stretches  of  country  to  find  the  same  number  of  people  that  we  have 
right  at  our  door  in  such  cities  as  Suifu  and  Chengtu,  Kiating  and 
Yachow.  There  are,  to  be  sure,  a good  many  thousand  Chinese  in 
Ningyuen  itself  and  yet  other  thousands  in  the  regions  below,  toward 
Hweilichow.  Yet  I am  personally  of  the  opinion  that  we  should 
have  done  better  not  to  enter  Ningyuenfu.  I do  not  know  that  I 
should  have  been  of  that  opinion  had  I been  in_  the  place  of  our 
missionaries  who  received  the  invitation.  I cherish  this  view,  not 
because  Ningyuen  is  hopeless,  for  it  is  not,  but  because  we  had  al- 
ready far  greater  responsibility  than  we  could  hope  to  discharge. 

Ningyuen  cannot  readily  be  integrated  with  our  other  work, 
where  b^y  effective  outstation  work  we  are  linking  station  to  station. 
It  must  always,  for  topographical  reasons  and  because  of  the  dis- 
tance, be  a more  or  less  detached  field.  The  limitation  of  our  re- 
sources and  the  remoteness  of  Ningyuen  from  the  main  body  of 
our  mission  are  the  chief  reasons  why  I shall  be  glad  to  see  it  taken 
over  at  the  earliest  practicable  moment  by  the  Australian  Christian 
Mission.  I do  not  believe  that  there  is  anything  in  the  past  history 
of  our  work  there,  open  as  it  may  be  at  certain  points  to  criticism, 
which  it  would  not  be  possible  by  proper  staffing  and  continuous  oc- 
cupancy to  overcome.  This,  I take  it,  is  the  view  of  all  who  have 
been  for  any  length  of  time  at  Ningyuenfu.  It  is,  therefore,  not 
so  much  a question  of  the  local  situation  at  it  is  one  of  general 
policy  within  the  Mission.  It  is  true  that  we  have  incurred  certain 
obligations  toward  the  Christian  community  in  Ningyuen  which 
we  cannot  discharge  by  simply  dropping  the  station.  We  must  seek 
to  carry  on  until  we  can  be  relieved  of  it  by  a proper  transfer. 

It  is  qvident,  therefore,  that  I am  urging  the  application  of  an 
intensive  policy  in  West  China.  I believe  that  it  will  perhaps  be 
found  ultimately  in  accord  with  such  policy  to  negotiate  with  the 
China  Inland  Mission  the  transfer  of  Kiungchow,  a hsien  city  of 
some  20,000  lying  on  the  road  between  Yachow  and  Chengtu,  and 
thus  about  equidistant  from  Yachow,  Chengtu  and  Kiating.  It  would 
serve  to  link  up  our  work  effectively  in  the  north  end  of  our  district, 
and  is  itself  a good  base  of  operations.  This  will  fall  in  with  the 
policy  of  a compact  field  far  better  than  the  continuation  of  Nin- 
gjmen  as  one  of  our  principal  stations. 


The  Limits  of  Outstation  Efficiency 

Policy  in  outstation  work  has  varied,  I am  led  to  believe,  from 
station  to  station  and  from  the  individual  evangelistic  worker  to  his 
successor.  The  Kiating  station,  for  example,  has  developed  but  three 
main  outstatioiis,  at  each  of  which  there  is  resident  a Chinese 
evangelist.  The  Kiating  field  is  relatively  compact,  and  these  cen- 
ters are  towns  of  10,000  or  above.  Whether  it  is  due  to  policy  or 
to  accident,  these  have  become  strong  nucleating  centers  of  our  work, 
and  one  of  them— Kia-kiang— bids  fair  to  become  the  first  independ- 
ent church  outside  the  main  stations—for  we  still  have  in  West 
China  what  may  be  termed  “the  metropolitan  church.”  Suifu,  with 
considerably  greater  distances  to  traverse,  had  some  fourteen  out- 
stations  at  the  time  of  my  visit.  These  were  in  market  towns  of 
from  2,000  to  15,000  people.  The  strongest  of  these,  that  at  Li-chuan, 


26 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


is  quite  as  effective  as  any  of  our  outstations  in  the  Mission.  But 
it  has  not  been  possible  to  man  them  all  with  Chinese  evangelists  and 
to  exercise  adequate  supervision  over  the  work.  In  the  judgment 
of  the  evangelistic  worker  now  in  charge  at  Suifu,  it  would  be  wise 
to  limit  our  activities  to  not  above  nine  centers,  reserving  those 
where  we  now  have  and  are  likely  to  maintain  the  most  effective 
contacts.  In  the  Yachow  field,  while  some  seventeen  towns,  ranging 
from  300  to  15,000  in  population,  are  listed  as  outstations,  it  had 
not  been  found  practicable  to  maintain  effecti/e  touch  with  them  all. 
As  with  the  Suifu  field,  probably  more  than  half  of  them  must  de- 
pend upon  the  occasional  visits  of  the  evangelistic  worker  and  his 
Chinese  assistants.  The  groups  of  believers  number  from  6 up  to 
35  or  40  in  a place.  The  evangelistic  missionary  in  charge  at  the 
time  of  my  visit  was  assisted  by  four  evangelists  resident  at  dif- 
ferent outstations.  It  was  distinctly  the  policy  of  the  educational 
missionary  in  charge  of  the  schools  of  this  station  and  its  outstations 
to  reduce  the  number  of  schools  to  the  maximum  that  could  be  effi- 
ciently operated,  that  is,  from  nine  to  six. 

What  I am  saying  is,  in  effect,  that  there  are  everywhere  two 
tendencies  contending,  the  expansive  and  the  intensive.  In  the  de- 
cision with  respect  to  the  application  of  an  intensive  policy  the  wis- 
dom of  the  whole  mission  should  be  funded ; but  the  decision  to  work 
upon  an  intensive  rather  than  an  expansive  basis  is  a matter  for 
the  Board  to  decide.  There  are  a great  many  villages  in  the  general 
district  allocated  to  our  Mission  which  we  have  not  entered  and  shall 
not  be  able  to  enter;  yet  now  and  then  some  individual  or  group 
presents  us  with  an  appeal  to  come  over  and  start  work  in  their 
village.  Will  it  serve  the  ends  of  the  Kingdom  best  if  we  leave  what 
we  are  trying  to  do  now  and  go  to  them  for  a while,  knowing  for  a 
certainty  that  the  effectiveness  of  the  work  left  behind  will  be 
positively  reduced?  There  is  a limit  which  even  those  who  are  com- 
mited  to  an  expansive  policy  have  to  draw — the  physical  limit;  that 
is  there  for  all  of  us.  Would  it  not  be  well  to  operate  well  within 
that  limit,  building  up  intensively  certain  evangelistic  centers,  which 
may  ultimately  become  centers  of  a more  expansive  Chinese  evan- 
gelism? It  is  the  Chinese  and  not  the  foreigners  who  must  ultimately 
do  this  work. 


Mission  Control  of  Outstation  Policy 

I wish  to  say  once  more  that  the  wisdom  of  the  Mission  should 
be  funded  in  the  decision  as  to  opening  new  outstations  and  the  Mis- 
sion should  formulate  the  policy  for  outstation  work.  The  Mission 
should  also  administer  its  outstation  policy,  through  an  effective 
committee  or  otherwise.  This  is  to  say  that  we  should  not  leave 
it  to  individuals  to  say  whether  they  will  proceed  intensively  or  ex- 
pansively but  should  secure  continuity  of  policy  by  reserving  that 
prerogative  for  the  Mission.  The  active  efforts  of  the  station  evan- 
gelists should  be  continuously  supported  and  followed  by  the  policy 
of  the  Mission  and  by  its  administration.  Thus  we  may  avoid  a 
situation  which  has  arisen  not  once  but  repeatedly  in  various  mis- 
sions, when  a mission  worker  has  retired  and  another  has  taken 
his  place.  It  is  for  the  Mission  to  have  a policy  and  for  the  indivi- 
dual worker  to  help  carry  that  policy  into  execution.  At  the  same 
time,  we  do  not  want  a scheme  so  rigid  as  to  repress  individual  ini- 
tiative. It  should  be  said  that  the  West  China  Mission  is  working 
in  this  direction. 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


27 


Native  Leadership  and  Independent  Churches 

At  the  present  time  we  have  the  metropolitan  church  with  the 
evangelistic  missionary  as  pastor,  but  we  must  work  for  a time  when 
we  shall  have  local  churches  with  Chinese  pastors.  At  the  present 
time  the  groups  of  Christians  in  the  larger  outstations  are  organized 
into  what  may  be  called  branch  churches.  And  these  churches, 
through  their  representatives,  are  brought  together  in  an  embryonic 
district  association.  I had  the  pleasure  of  being  present  at  the 
annual  meeting  at  Kiating,  just  preceding  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
Chinese  Baptist  Convention.  Here,  as  at  the  convention  in  Chengtu, 
I was  impressed  by  the  lack  of  outstanding  leadership.  It  was  freely 
confessed  that  in  the  past  we  had  not  taken  the  necessary  steps  but 
the  Mission  is  very  actively  engaged  in  the  development  of  leadership 
at  the  present  time.  Such  leadership,  it  is  true,  is  the  product  of 
a rather  extended  educational  process.  Our  friends  of  the  American 
and  Canadian  Methodist  missions  have  quite  outstripped  us  in  this 
particular,  but  we  shall  come  to  our  own  one  of  these  days.  The 
secret  of  their  achievement  lies  in  the  fact  that  years  ago  they  very 
definitely  shaped  their  plans  to  produce  an  educated  leadership. 
The  West  China  Union  University  was  actually  established  on  the 
basis  of  their  middle  schools,  not  on  ours.  While  we  are  in  the  way 
of  obtaining  the  type  of  leadership  we  need,  we  have  but  little 
available  as  yet. 


Our  Chinese  Evangelistic  Staff 

The  development  of  independent  churches  must  await  a while 
longer  the  advent  of  the  adequately  trained  leader.  I took  some 
pains  to  inquire  concerning  the  personnel  of  our  Chinese  evangelis- 
tic staif.  The  inquiry  confirmed  my  belief  that  the  movement  out  of 
essential  paganism  into  a full-rounded  Christian  experience  is  a 
slow  one  and  frequently  not  achieved  until  the  second  or  third 
generation.  I was  not  surprised  that  these  men  were  so  frequently 
possessed  of  little  or  no  modern  training.  The  best  trained  among 
them  have  had  middle  school  training  and  a year  or  two  at  the 
Bible  Training  School  in  Chengtu;  but  there  are  only  three  or  four 
of  these.  For  the  most  part  the  fifteen  or  sixteen  men  for  whom  I 
have  data  are  comparatively  simple-minded  men  who  have  stepped 
from  other  callings  into  the  office  of  evangelist  without  any  great 
amount  of  preparation.  It  would  not  matter  so  much  if  they  were 
always  thoroughly  converted  to  Christian  moral  standards;  but, 
along  with  their  simple-mindedness,  they  not  seldom  carry  a consid- 
erable burden  of  superstition  and  the  ever-attached  heathen  mores. 
In  many  ways  the  heathen  past  and  the  heathen  present  conspire  to 
undo  them.  There  is  an  excellent  man  who  has  two  wives,  both  of 
whom  he  acquired  before  he  became  a Christian  and  by  both  of 
whom  he  has  children.  He  must  maintain  them  both,  and  cannot 
become  an  ordained  preacher  for  that,  if  for  no  other,  reason.  Here 
is  another  man  who  was  once  discharged  by  another  body  for 
gambling.  Here  is  a third  who  has  been  penalized  and  discharged 
once  or  twice  by  our  own  mission.  Here  is  a fourth  who  received 
his  final  discharge  about  the  time  of  my  arrival  for  fraud  and  other 
matters  practically  unmentionable.  But  most  of  these  men,  accord- 
ing to  their  light,  have  proven  honest  and  useful. 


28 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


Future  Leadership 

_At  the  same  time,  this  is  not  the  leadership  which  can  face  young 
China  and  command  either  respect  or  a following.  They  are  not  as 
a rule  men  of  any  particular  vision,  although  their  natural  ability 
and  their  Chinese  scholarship  vary  widely.  At  the  top  of  the  scale 
are  men  like  Chang  and  Lan  of  Suifu.  Of  not  a few  others,  we 
must  confess,  in  the  terms  of  last  February’s  Report  of  the  Evan- 
gelistic Committee,  that  they  were  “men  of  meager  training  who 
left  the  impression  that  they  had  not  been  successful  elsewhere,” 
while  some  of  them  were  also  “of  too  low  morality.” 

It  was  said  at  the  Conference  that  there  are  not  over  two  men 
now  in  Mission  employ  whom  the  Mission  could  hope  to  ordain 
(there  are  as  yet  no  ordained  men  in  this  Mission).  This  did  not 
include  the  young  men  who  are  still  in  training,  like  Mr.  Fay,  who 
is  still  in  America,  and  others  who  are  yet  in  West  China  Univer- 
sity and  our  lower  schools.  Yet  there  are  not  as  yet  many  men  of 
promise  in  immediate  prospect  for  this  work.  It  has  to  be  said  that 
just  at  present  we  have  rather  more  adequate  leadership  in  our  schools 
than  in  our  evangelistic  ranks.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the 
best  men  in  the  ranks  of  our  Chinese  evangelists  are  from  that 
group  in  Briton  Corlies’  little  school  in  Yachow,  known  some  fifteen 
years  ago  as  “Briton  Corlies’  Indians.” 


The  Chinese  Churches 

It  is  difficult  to  transmit  the  effect  which  the  Chinese  churches 
make  upon  one.  The  language  is  strange,  dress  and  social  customs 
are  different,  the  very  buildings  themselves  have  features  unwonted 
about  them.  The  sexes  are  sharply  differentiated,  and  in  Suifu  church 
there  is  still  a relic  of  response  to  the  sentiment  of  the  older 
generation  of  Chinese — that  is,  a board  partition  higher  than  your 
head,  which  extends  from  the  pulpit  to  the  rear  of  the  church.  To 
discern  behind  all  the  differences  the  evidences  of  Christian  faith, 
hope  and  love  is  no  small  task.  You  can  discern  a degree  of  rever- 
ence respect,  attention,  and  not  seldom  a mellowing  of  features  that 
goes  with  the  heart’s  response  to  some  peculiarly  appealing  note 
in  the  sermon.  Yet  you  cannot  know  just  how  deep  the  impression 
is  until  you  follow  these  people  to  their  homes,  to  their  business,  to 
their  life  in  the  Chinese  family  and  clan,  with  its  tenacious  claim 
upon  the  individual,  to  their  life  as  citizens  and  as  witnessing 
Christians.  The  fact  is  that,  once  you  carry  your  inquiry  back  in 
this  fashion,  you  gain  the  impression  of  a wide  disparity:  some  have 
gone  a long  way,  others  but  a little  distance.  The  idols  are  gone 
from  the  domestic'  shrine;  the  little  children  are  perhaps  sent  to  the 
kindergarten  or  to  school;  a break  is  made  with  the  social  dissi- 
pations of  the  community,  with  gambling  and  wine-drinking;  the 
house  may  be  a bit  cleaner,  a bit  nearer  sanitation.  But  you  have 
to  wait  for  the  second  generation,  who  have  had  the  impact  of  a 
selected  environment  such  as  the  Christian  boarding  school  affords, 
and  such  as  longer  habituation  to  the  new  ideas  and  customs^  affords, 
to  gain  the  greater  forward  step.  We  have  but  little  notion,  and 
can  have  but  little,  how  much  these  little  communities  of  converts 
need  strong,  wise,  fearless,  convinced  leaders,  or  how  much  these 
individual  Christians  of  the  first  generation  need  each  other  in  their 
new  endeavor.  That  is  the  great  reason  why  I favor  the  development 
of  a more  compact  work,  the  intensive  rather  than  the  expansive 
policy  in  evangelism.  Otherwise  we  are  in  grave  danger  of  a hybrid 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


29 


Christianity,  such  as  was  the  actual  outcome  of  the  syncretism  of 
the  early  Christian  centuries  and  which  may  be  but  a few  degrees 
better  than  heathenism. 


Station  and  Outstation  Schools 

A regular  accompaniment  of  station  and  outstation  evangelism 
is  the  upbuilding  of  our  schools.  I will  not  say  that  we  should  open 
no  outstations  where  we  are  not  prepared  to  engage  in  school  work, 
and  yet  I believe  that  we  should  not  go  far  beyond  that  limit.  We 
need  the  local  school,  both  higher  and  lower  primary,  for  the  sake 
of  the  more  adequate  expression  of  Christianity  and  for  the  sake 
of  the  church  of  tomorrow,  in  every  community  we  may  enter. 
One  of  our  most  serious  problems  is  that  of  supplying  such  schools 
with  trained  teachers  who  are  also  exponents  of  the  Christian  faith. 
I was  rather  surprised  to  find  that  our  Mission  employs,  apparently 
of  sheer  necessity,  so  many  non-Christian  teachers;  that  is,  out  of 
a total  of  98  women  and  men,  there  were  35  non-Christians.  These 
were  in  most  cases  definitely  friendly  to  Christianity;  never,  of 
course,  openly  hostile.  When  the  time  comes  that  we  can  staff  our 
schools  entirely  with  active,  well-trained  Christians,  men  and  women, 
we  shall  be  in  much  better  position  to  achieve  our  primary  aim  in 
school  work.  For  the  entire  success  of  the  Christian  program  depends 
quite  as  much  upon  a Christian  educational  leadership  as  it  does 
upon  an  educated  evangelistic  leadership. 


Impression  of  a Chhiese  School 

As  with  the  Chinese  church,  so  it  is  quite  difficult  to  give  any 
proper  notion  of  a Chinese  school,  particularly  of  our  more  poorly 
housed  schools,  destitute  of  equipment  and  of  all  the  accessories 
which  serve  to  make  school  life  pleasurable  to  an  American  child. 
In  the  first  place,  throughout  all  the  winter,  the  school-room  is  cold. 
Less  sensitive  to  cold  than  we,  the  pupil  is  nevertheless  half-be- 
numbed by  it;  and  the  marvel  to  me  is  how  anything  can  be  taught 
children  who  are  half-benumbed  by  cold,  often  poorly  fed  and 
not  seldom  half-sick.  The  average  pupil  in  our  West  China 
Schools  is  below  normal  in  health,  as  has  been  shown  by  the  tests 
which  Dr.  Morse  and  Dr.  Humphreys  have  made.  The  practice  of 
studying  aloud  gives  the  impression  of  continual  confusion.  Never- 
theless, the  better  schools,  as  for  example  those  at  Yachow  and 
Suifu,  impress  you  as  real  educational  institutions. 


Building  from  the  Bottom 

We  have  had  a theory  of  building  from  the  bottom  which  we  need 
to  justify.  The  fact  is  that  we  have  a very  broad  base  in  rather  in- 
effective lower  primary  schools  which  do  not  turn  out  a well-trained 
product  and  hence  make  far  less  contribution  to  our  higher  primary 
work  than  we  are  usually  wont  to  suppose.  Dr.  Rudd  makes  the 
statement  that,  as  conducted,  the  lower  primary  school  makes  al- 
most no  helpful  impression  upon  the  pupils.  The  average  teacher 
obtainable  cannot  do  much  for  them.  At  Suifu  but  9 out  of  48 
pupils  in  our  higher  primary  school  came  from  our  own  lower  prim- 
ary school;  at  Kiating  very  few  pupils  came  to  the  city  higher  prim- 
ary from  the  outstation  schools;  at  Yachow,  from  nine  outstation 
schools,  there  were  but  12  pupils  in  the  higher  primary.  We  do 


30 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


need  the  broad  base,  but  not  a base  so  broad  that  it  will  not  bear 
the  superstructure. 

Things  are  changing  rapidly  for  the  better  and  we  now  have 
more  qualified  material  from  which  to  select  the  teachers  in  our  lower 
schools.  The  Normal  School  holds  the  key  to  our  educational  future. 
I was  glad  to  find  the  educational  missionary  at  Yachow  taking  hold 
of  the  outstation  school  work  strongly  and  to  find  that  the  Principal 
of  Munroe  Academy  is  giving  as  much  time  as  may  be  to  the  city 
schools  in  Suifu  and  to  the  outstation  situation.  Kiating,  with 
fewer  outstations,  has  in  this  respect  a simpler  problem;  yet  the 
Kiating  educational  situation  is  far  from  ideal.  We  should  have 
an  adequately  staffed  well-housed  and  well-equipped  higher  primary 
school  at  Kiating.  If  we  are  to  build  from  the  bottom,  we  must  also 
build  from  the  top.  And  we  must  not  forget  the  middle  of  the 
structure.  We  shall  never  have  material  for  our  higher  schools  in 
the  numbers  we  desire  until  we  make  more  of  our  higher  primary 
work.  We  must  bring  the  higher  primary  schools  to  their  maximum 
development  and  turn  our  attention  as  fast  as'  we  may  to  the  found- 
ation and  strengthening  of  necessary  middle  schools.  We  have  at 
present  186  boys  in  higher  primary  schools,  99  in  middle  schools, 
23  in  training  schools  and  18  in  college.  In  1920  one  man  from  the 
college  and  seven  from  the  normal  school  entered  mission  employ. 
This  year  we  graduated  one  man  from  the  university  (who  became 
assistant  principal  of  Munroe  Academy)  and  three  men  from  the 
normal  school.  (These  men  passed  at  once  into  mission  employ.) 
In  addition,  this  year  seven  students  drop  out  of  their  normal  school 
for  a year’s  teaching  in  the  schools  of  the  Mission. 


The  University 

Both  in  organization  and  in  personnel,  the  University  commends 
itself  to  the  visitor  from  America.  A fine  and  substantial  beginning 
toward  a permanent  plant  has  been  made,  and  our  Baptist  share  in 
it  is  significant.  With  the  completion  of  Vandeman  Hall  and 
the  erection  of  our  Middle  School  Dormitory,  we  are  quite  to  the 
fore  in  the  matter  of  buildings.  The  University  proper  has  more 
buildings  projected  than  its  builder  can  care  for:  the  Middle  School, 
the  Medical,  Library  and  Biological  building'  are  all  urgently  needed. 
Funds  for  all  of  these,  and  provision  for  a teaching  building  on  the 
Friends  college  site,  have  been  for  some  time  in  hand;  only  the 
unusual  conditions  of  building  in  West  China  have  delayed  their 
erection.  I believe  that  the  Middle  School  is  now  in  process.  It  was 
greatly  needed,  for  the  Middle  School  now  has  above  200  students. 
The  Medical  Building  or  a section  of  the  Biological  Building  ought 
immediately  to  be  built,  as  the  Medical  School,  which  needs  laboratory 
and  clinical  facilities,  now  numbers  34  students. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  University  has  been  able  to  carry  on 
its  work  with  conditions  so  disturbed.  My  latest  information  is 
to  the  effect  that  Szechuan  now  has  five  governors,  or  rival  claim- 
ants to  supreme  authority,  each  in  control  of  a limited  section  of 
the  province. 

If  the  University  is  to  have  that  early  expansion  which  it  de- 
mands, it  must  look  to  the  middle  schools  of  the  missions  for  students. 
Of  the  15,000  pupils  enrolled  in  the  school  system  of  the  West 
China  Educational  Union,  by  far  the  greater  proportion  are  in  the 
lower  primary  schools,  in  many  of  which  teaching  is  so  ineffective. 
The  Union  is  still  weak  in  effective  higher  primary  and  middle 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


31 


schools,  and  our  own  Mission  is  weak  here,  in  spite  of  excellent  work 
in  certain  of  our  schools.  Our  most  significant  service  to  the  Uni- 
versity and  to  the  future  of  our  own  work  will  be  the  strengthening 
of  our  school  work  at  this  point.  I cannot  help  feeling  that  Munroe 
is  not  well  located.  Whether  or  not  it  should  be  across  the  river 
from  the  city,  it  certainly  is  true  that  its  present  quarters  are  not 
adequate  for  the  conduct  of  a real  middle  school.  There  is  land 
enough,  I believe,  for  the  necessary  plant.  With  continuous  well- 
directed  effort,  it  should  be  possible  to  build  up  a strong  middle 
school  at  Yachow.  But  that  will  require  the  continuous  upbuilding 
of  the  outstation  schools  at  the  same  time.  We  ought  at  least  to 
have  a first-class  higher  primary  school  at  Kiating  and  might  easily 
in  time  have  a middle  school,  although  I cannot  help  feeling  that  co- 
operation with  the  other  missions  ought  to  be  our  aim  at  this  center. 


The  Medical  Work  of  the  Mission 

Once  more  our  hospitals  in  West  China  are  running.  I was  sur- 
prised to  learn  from  a report  at  the  Conference  last  February  that 
our  hospitals  in  this  Mission  have  been  operated  only  35.4  per  cent 
of  the  20  hospital  years  since  that  work  began,  and  then  not  at  full 
force.  That  looks  like  poor  economy.  They  are  today  more  nearly 
staffed,  counting  assistants  and  all,  than  ever  before  in  the  Mis- 
sion’s history.  The  greatest  shortage  just  at  this  time  is  in  the 
Medical  School  staffing.  There  is  a claim  for  three  new  men  from 
our  society  for  the  Medical  School  staff  and  one  for  dispensary  work. 
The  fact  that  we  are  setting  up  a medical  education  for  a province  of 
50,000,000  people  ought  to  catch  the  imagination  of  the  co-operating 
missions.  The  plan  for  the  school  calls  for  the  full  time  of  12  men, 
with  six  others  for  the  hospitals.  There  are  at  the  present  time 
only  six  men  in  actual  service  on  the  staff  and  in  the  hospitals — one- 
third  the  required  number.  We  ought  soon  to  send  our  representa- 
tive, the  Dean  of  the  School,  relief,  for  he  is  burning  the  candle  at 
both  ends.  We  cannot  afford  to  require  that  of  any  representative 
of  ours  on  the  mission  field. 

I am  a full  believei^  in  an  investment  by  the  missions  in  the  field 
of  constructive  and  preventive  medicine,  and  there  is  no  finer  ap- 
proach to  this  service  than  that  afforded  by  the  Medical  School.  To 
have  this  undisputed  Christian  approach  to  the  coming  medical  pro- 
fession of  that  vast  province  should  call  for  a bigger  investment  than 
we  have  made.  As  to  the  man  for  dispensary  work;  I have  a sug- 
gestion from  the  Secretary  of  the  Mission  that  here  is  a line  which 
looks  toward  a development  of  self-support.  The  fact  is  that  vast 
quantities  of  medicine  in  the  raw  state,  particularly  of  herbs,  are 
shipped  out  of  the  province  to  be  compounded  in  Europe  or  America ; 
whereas,  if  it  could  be  compounded  by  Christian  men  in  West  China, 
it  would  afford  medicines  now  beyond  the  reach  of  the  poor  at  reason- 
able rates  and  would  also  enhance  the  fortunes  of  those  who  did  the 
compounding.  In  any  case  the  problem  of  self-support  is  keen 
enough  in  our  growing  Christian  community. 

The  new  hospital  at  Suifu  will  greatly  extend  the  community 
service  of  the  Mission  and  will  serve  as  well  for  the  supplementing 
of  the  facilities  offered  for  the  graduate  training  of  physicians  in 
their  year  of  interneship.  It  should  be  possible  from  such  a center 
to  extend  a ministry  of  community  sanitation  and  preventive  med- 
cine  throughout  the  region. 


32 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


Our  Building  Policy 

The  question  of  what  should  be  our  building  policy  in  a given  field 
is  not  original  with  me.  The  mission  buildings  themselves  have 
wrestled  with  it.  I am  not  referring  especially  to  the  sort  of  homes 
which  we  should  provide  for  our  missionaries.  Minimum  expendi- 
ture here  is  not  likely  to  prove  true  economy,  and  yet  there  is  con- 
ceivable an  over-ornate  type  of  mission  residence.  I have  reference 
rather  to  the  type  of  church  building,  of  school  building  and 
of  hospital  which  we  should  erect.  I am  not  so  much  concerned 
with  styles  of  architecture,  though  the  question  is  important,  as 
with  the  scale  of  expenditure.  Should  we  establish  models  which 
the  Chinese  will  not  be  financially  able  to  follow  when  they  take  over 
the  support  and  administration  of  the  great  Christian  enterprise? 

At  the  one  extreme  of  foreign  building  by  philanthropic  agencies 
in  China  we  find  the  buildings  of  the  China  Medical  Board  in  Peking, 
very  ornate  and  costly  and  wholly  incapable  of  becoming  models  for 
the  Chinese  medical  builders  of  the  future.  At  the  other  extreme 
is  the  unadapted  Chinese  building,  which  in  some  instances  we  are 
utilizing.  No  absolute  standard  of  building  could  be  established,  of 
course.  Conditions  vary  most  widely.  The  port  cities  witness  many 
adaptations  of  foreign-type  buildings;  the  interior  shows  but  few 
such  buildings.  But  it  is  not  so  much  a question  of  readiness  to  adopt 
innovations  as  it  is  a question  of  financial  ability. 

In  any  case,  our  buildings  must  set  a high  standard  of  comfort 
and  sanitation,  with  specific  adaptations  to  the  task  in  hand,  whether 
school,  church,  hospital  or  what.  But  they  must  set  us  a realizable 
ideal  for  the  Chinese.  I do  not  believe  that  we  have  quite  attained 
that  in  West  China  or  elsewhere.  This  is  not,  of  course,  to  be  con- 
strued as  a criticism  so  much  as  it  is  to  be  taken  as  pointing  to  a 
future  responsibility.  We  cannot  pauperize  our  constituency  by  doing 
everything  for  them;  and  large  sections  of  China  have  not  the  finan- 
tial  strength  of  a Ningpo. 


The  Annual  Conference 

I was  priviledged  to  be  present  throughout  the  session  of  the  Con- 
ference, from  January  31  to  February  9,  1921,  and  also  to  be  in  at- 
tendance upon  most  of  the  meetings  of  the  Executive  Committee 
during  the  Conference  period.  To  my  mind  the  Mission  is  succeeding 
to  a gratifying  degree  in  the  shaping  of  a policy  which  shall  make 
its  work  more  effective  in  the  future.  Large  dependence  is  now 
placed  upon  the  correlation  of  Reference  Committee  and  Station 
Council  for  ad  interim  administration,  and  the  plan  seems  to  be  work- 
ing out  quite  satisfactorily.  There  is  also  a tendency  toward  placing 
responsibility  for  the  administration  of  particular  lines  of  policy 
in  the  hands  of  strong  committees  instead  of  leaving  such  matters 
wholly  to  the  individual  missionary.  The  Conference  grappled  effec- 
tively with  its  major  problems  and  seemed  possessed  with  a good  de- 
gree of  ability  for  self-criticism,  an  ability  so  essential  to  genuine 
growth. 

With  the  growth  of  the  Chengtu  Baptist  College  and  of  the  Mission 
as  well,  it  becomes  increasingly  apparent  that  some  relief  must  be 
afforded  the  Secretary.  Dr.  Taylor  has  for  some  years  carried  this 
double  responsibility,  being  both  the  President  of  our  College  and  the 
Secretary  of  the  Mission.  I am  not  sure  whether  it  would  be  wise 
to  try  to  shift  the  responsibility  for  the  secretaryship  entirely.  Dr. 
Taylor  fills  a place  in  relation  to  the  work  of  the  entire  Mission  which 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


33 


could  not  easily  be  taken  by  another.  At  the  same  time,  he  is  quite 
indispensable  to  the  College.  Arrangements  covering  the  period  of 
his  furlough  may  have  in  them  the  suggestion  of  a solution. 


JAPAN 

I need  not  take  time  to  offer  extensive  observations  concerning 
Japan.  I should  remark  at  the  outset  that  I was  everywhere  re- 
ceived with  the  upmost  courtesy  and  I could  not  escape  the  feeling 
that  it  was  genuine.  This  leads  me  to  remark  that  I cannot  feel 
that  the  view  cherished  by  not  a few  missionaries  in  China,  a view 
which  expresses  itself  in  rather  sweeping  condemnation  of  the  Jap- 
anese people  as  a whole,  is  justified.  I could  not  become  an  apologist 
for  Japan  in  her  relations  to  China  during  the  past  decade.  But  I 
do  sincerely  believe  that  most  of  our  generalizations  are  too  sweeping. 
One  must  discriminate  types  of  opinion  as  to  national  and  interna- 
tional policy  among  the  Japanese  people,  for  they  are  not  all  of  one 
opinion.  Intensely  loyal  to  their  own  nation,  sensitive  and  proud  as 
they  are,  they  nevertheless  avail  themselves  of  the  right  to  contrary 
opinion  and  there  has  been  a vast  deal  of  criticism,  powerful  and  in- 
fluential criticism,  of  the  government’s  attitude  toward  China. 
Sweeping  condemnation  from  without  tends  rather  to  discourage  the 
liberal  group  than  to  assist  it  in  its  effort  for  a more  democratic  and 
popular  government  and  for  a happier  relation  to  the  rest  of  the 
world. 


Industrial  and  Financial  Conditions 

The  most  superficial  view  of  conditions  in  Japan  reveals  the 
fact  of  a transition,  still  in  process  and  probably  only  well  begun, 
from  the  old  to  the  new  in  business  and  industry.  This  is  revealed 
externally  in  the  nondescript  mingling  of  types  of  architecture;  it 
is  apparent  in  the  erection  of  great  industrial  plants  and  the  mass- 
ing of  scores  of  thousands  in  the  immediate  neighborhoods;  it  is  ap- 
parent in  the  mushroom  growth  of  cities,  especially  of  those  cities 
which  are  centers  of  the  new  industry  and  the  marts  of  the  new 
commerce.  One  can  hardly  gain  any  proper  conception  of  the  im- 
mensity and  complexity  of  this  process  or  of  the  rapidity  with  which 
it  is  transforming  these  centers  of  Japan,  unless  he  is  able  to  spend 
months  in  the  study  of  this  phenomenon  alone. 

Japanese  industry  and  trade  profited  immensely  from  the  condi- 
tions precipitated  by  the  War.  But  that  was  not  an  experience  of 
unmingled  gain  for  the  Japanese  people  as  a whole,  for  along  with  a 
tremendous  elevation  in  the  scale  of  wants  in  the  average  community 
there  was  a more  than  commensurate  rise  in  the  scale  of  costs.  Japan 
became  the  most  expensive  part  of  the  Orient  in  which  to  live  and 
she  remains  so.  With  the  end  of  the  War,  however,  Japan  was  caught 
in  the  undertow  of  receding  values.  Panic  was  but  narrowly  averted. 
In  place  of  the  profitable  side  of  a war  situation,  Japan  now  felt 
the  terrible  cost  of  a war  establishment,  and  there  is  no  questoin  but 
that  she  is  groaning  beneath  it  today.  She  needs  the  trade  outlet 
which  her  treatment  of  China  has  in  part  taken  away.  She  needs 
the  lifting  of  her  excessive  burden  of  taxation  and  the  restoration 
of  a more  nearly  normal  scale  of  costs.  In  these  regards  her  situation 
is  not  unlike  that  of  the  United  States;  but  with  the  difference  that 
neither  her  financial  organizations  nor  her  industrial  and  labor 
world  are  so  well  able  to  endure  and  cope  with  it  as  ours. 


34 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


The  consequence  of  an  inflation  of  values  and  an  abnormal  scale 
of  costs  for  our  missionary  enterprise  is  just  this:  that  we  shall  have 
to  pay  excessively  for  whatever  we  do  in  the  near  future  and  indeed 
indefinitely.  It  means  also  that  it  will  be  difficult  for  us  to  hold  our 
Mission  employees  or  to  engage  others  at  what  may  seem  to  us  a rea- 
sonable rate  of  compensation,  for  they  are  continually  confronted  by 
more  remunerative  opportunities  in  other  lines  and  they  are  under  the 
constant  pressure  of  the  high  cost  of  living. 

The  Feeling  of  Competency 

Japanese  pride  revolts  against  patronage.  The  Japanese,  whether 
Christian  or  not,  feels  his  own  worth;  he  may  even  seem  to  us  at 
times  a bit  too  confident  about  it.  Yet  the  fact  remains:  he  feels 
that  he  is  quite  capable  to  running  the  affair  himself.  This  is  every- 
where evident;  you  can  have  a good  deal  of  genuine  friendship^  and  of 
real  co-operation  upon  the  basis  of  actual  mutuality  and  comity,  but 
you  cannot  win  or  hold  it  on  any  other  basis. 

This  element  in  Japanese  racial  psychology  imposes  upon  the 
missions  a pretty  definite  set  of  limitations.  It  means  that  the  Jap- 
anese Christian  community  must  increase  in  prerogatives  and  author- 
ity, while  we  must  decrease.  This  fact  is  well  recognized  by  mis- 
sionaries resident  in  Japan,  the  only  question  being  one  of  the  ap- 
plication of  the  principle.  Those  missions  which  started  in  early  to 
train  an  ample  religious  leadership  are  in  the  better  position  in  this 
regard,  for  they  have  leaders  who  are  quite  capable  of  entering  into 
such  a mutual  arrangement  as  the  Japanese  can  fully  approve. 

The  further  fact  relative  to  this  situation  is  that,  under  the  in- 
ternational conditions  now  prevailing,  more  particularly  in  view  of 
the  relations  between  the  United  States  and  Japan,  accentuated  by 
the  attitude  of  California,  this  feeling  of  entire  competency  and  insis- 
tence upon  complete  racial  equality  is  rapidly  becoming  a primary 
article  in  the  national  creed.  No  one  need  hope  to  get  far  in  Japan, 
with  any  enterprise,  and  least  of  all  with  Christian  missions,  if  he  pro- 
ceeds upon  any  other  assumption.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Christian 
with  his  doctrine  that  God  has  made  of  one  all  the  nations,  should  be 
most  readily  capable  of  adjusting  himself  to  this  demand.  Even  so, 
there  are  times  and  situations  which  must  try  one’s  soul. 


I.  THE  JAPAN  MISSION 

Here,  as  in  other  missions,  we  have  had  to  feel  our  way  toward  a 
formulated  policy.  In  the  beginning  there  was  a good  deal  of  em- 
phasis upon  an  expansive  evangelistic  policy  as  the  main  feature 
of  the  work:  to  establish  centers  from  which  we  might  itinerate  as 
widely  as  means  and  staff  would  permit.  Latterly,  however,  we  have 
inclined  more  toward  an  institutional  type  of  work,  yet  without 
writing  field  evangelism  off  our  program.  In  this  we  have  doubtless 
been  strongly  influenced  by  the  marked  currents  in  Japanese  life: 
the  tendency  toward  the  city  and  toward  the  educational  institution. 
Whether  we  have  made  such  adjustments  with  a full  awareness  of 
their  significance  or  not,  we  have  been  making  them.  No  one  can 
doubt  the  alertness  of  our  missionary  staff : if  they  do  not  know  what 
is  going  on  in  Japanese  life,  it  is  most  certain  that  none  of  us  can  tell 
them.  Yet,  in  spite  of  our  alertness  and  our  planning,  circumstances 
help  to  shape  our  course,  too;  and  we  cannot  always  control  them. 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


35 


Of  the  Mission  in  General 

One  who  has  visited  other  missions  extensively  feels  at  once  the 
differences  which  Japan  presents.  There  are  no  medical  missions, 
for  the  Japanese  Empire  provides  its  own  trained  physicians.  There 
are  but  few  Christian  educational  institutions  and  the  educational 
opportunity,  especially  for  the  education  of  boys  and  young  men,  is 
a good  deal  circumscribed.  Only  in  special  cases  and  in  limited  fields 
is  there  any  real  opportunity  for  Christian  education. 

Nevertheless  one  is  at  once  impressed  by  the  unique  features  of 
the  Japan  Mission.  It  has  individuality.  With  exactly  the  same 
chance,  or  an  even  greater  chance,  to  enter  these  fields,  it  has  re- 
mained for  our  Baptist  Mission  to  launch  a Fukuin  Maru,  to  establish 
a Misaki  Tabernacle,  to  open  a Scott  Hall  and  the  like.  The  result 
is  that  our  Mission  has  a prestige  in  the  field  of  missions  out  of  pro- 
portion to  its  numerical  stren^h.  There  are  other  respects,  as  in 
Sunday  school  work,  in  the  development  of  self-support,  in  the  im- 
provement of  particular  opportunities,  as  at  the  Mabie  Memorial  in 
Yokohama,  where  our  contribution  is  not  less  significant. 


The  Churches 

It  was  pleasing  to  find  in  Kobe,  my  first  contact  with  our  Japan 
Mission,  two  strong  churches,  independent  financially  and  well  housed. 
In  Osaka  as  well  I found  our  two  leading  churches  comparatively 
well  housed.  There  is  a very  good  building  in  Kyoto.  The  building 
of  the  Central  Church  in  Tokyo- — the  Misaki  Tabernacle— is  of  over- 
shadowing importance.  Other  buildings  I saw,  good,  bad  and  indiffer- 
ent, but  on  the  whole  not  impressive  or  adequate,  most  of  them. 

Some  of  the  pastors  impressed  me  as  men  of  really  excellent 
parts,  but  for  the  most  part  they  were  of  only  average  ability  and 
training— not  at  all  outstanding  men,  even  in  their  own  communities. 

I had  the  feeling  that  in  too  many  instances  the  churches  were  pro- 
ceeding upon  the  policy  of  opening  their  buildings  on  Sunday  and 
perhaps  on  a prayer-meeting  night.  The  only  other  significant  fea- 
ture which  I found  in  a number  was  the  conduct  of  classes  in  English, 
quite  often  in  the  church  building  itself.  One  would  say  that  in  a 
mission  land  churches  ought  to  seek  a widely  diversified  contact  with 
the  needs  of  their  communities  and  in  this  service  should  be  open 
every  day.  In  contrast  with  such  a situation  is  the  continuous  minis- 
try of  the  Misaki  Tabernacle.  To  be  sure,  the  service  of  a church 
to  the  community  will  be  governed  to  not  small  degree  by  its  location, 
but  many  of  our  churches  are  so  located  that  they  could  render  a 
larger  service  in  their  own  building  than  at  present. 

The  Significance  of  Strong  Churches 

In  my  view  of  it,  the  churches  are  the  measuring  stick  of  our 
success.  How  many  vigorous,  self-sustaining  churches  have  resulted 
from  our  years  of  labor?  That  is  in  the  end  the  test  question,  for  it 
is  only  organized  Christianity — Christianity  organized  into  churches 
— ^that  actively  perpetuates  itself.  Looking  toward  a day  when  we 
shall  withdraw  from  the  field,  or  shall  become  associated  in  a sec- 
ondary way  to  the  churches  themselves,  we  must  ask  this  question. 
Are  the  fruits  of  our  labors  being  garnered  into  churches  and  these 
churches  themselves,  led  by  able  Christian  leaders,  engaging  in  all  the 
manifold  ministry  to  which  their  opportunity  challenges  them? 


36 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


When  we  engage  in  such  a service  to  the  community  as  that  of 
the  Misaki  Tabernacle,  we  need  to  ask  the  question:  How  largely  is 
this  in  the  way  of  transfer  to  the  church  itself?  And  further:  To 
what  extent  are  those  who  become  interested  in  this  work  and  are 
blessed  by  the  ministry  of  the  Tabernacle  actually  enlisted  by  the 
church?  At  the  present  time,  if  I am  correctly  informed,  the  pastor 
of  the  Central  Church  is  perhaps  not  the  man  who  can  lead  in  so 
great  an  enterprise.  To  my  mind,  then,  it  is  not  merely  a question 
how  diversified  a work  we  can  carry  on  at  Misaki  Tabernacle  through 
our  foreign  staff.  It  is  also  a question  how  far  we  can  integrate  the 
fruitage  of  that  labor  with  the  life  of  the  church  which  houses  in  the 
Tabernacle.  This  suggestion  is  not  by  way  of  criticism;  this  thought 
is  also  in  the  mind  of  our  missionary  staff. 

And,  again,  when  we  carry  forward  such  a work  as  that  at 
Waseda,  we  of  course,  understand  that  we  are  making  a contribution 
to  the  life  of  the  University  and  of  Japan;  but  our  further  question 
is:  How  is  the  product  of  this  labor  related  to  our  churches  as  it 
passes  from  the  University  community?  Have  we  any  effective  way 
of  relating  these  young  men  to  the  church,  to  A Baptist  church?  It 
is  admittedly  difficult  to  get  them  into  the  regular  Tokyo  churches: 
Is  a student  church  the  solution?  And,  if  so,  how  shall  that  stand  re- 
lated to  our  other  churches  so  that  an  effective  transfer  may  be  made 
upon  the  student’s  graduation?  And,  furthermore — an  even  more  ur- 
gent question,  perhaps: — Have  we  the  type  of  church  or  the  calibre 
of  minister  which  can  command  their  interest  when  they  have  grad- 
uated? We  cannot,  of  course,  say:  “Go  to,  now,  let  us  have  only 
outstanding  men  in  our  ministry!”  But  we  can,  perhaps,  see  the 
significance  of  strong,  well-located,  fully  adapted  churches,  as  it 
relates  to  the  conserving  of  our  student  output. 

We  have  a problem  of  self-support  in  the  churches,  to  be  sure,  but 
our  first  aim  should  not  be  to  make  a church  self-supporting.  Our 
first  aim  should  be  to  help  a church  face  the  claims  of  its  community 
and  prepare  to  meet  them.  It  is  far  better  to  have  a church,  one 
church,  which  is  actually  getting  under  the  burden  of  its  community’s 
claim,  than  to  have  half-a-dozen  nice  little  churches  which  are  self- 
supporting  but  not  too  much  concerned  to  make  their  community  over. 
A direct  contribution  to  self-support,  as  I regard  it,  is  the  movement 
for  supplying  our  churches  with  parsonages.  With  the  present  high 
costs,  no  more  significant  contribution  can  be  made  to  the  mainte- 
nance of  an  efficient  pastorate. 

The  City  Problem 

Japan  presents  all  the  urban  problems  of  a period  of  industrial 
transition.  Her  mushroom  industrial  districts  are  the  abiding  places 
of  huddled  thousands,  removed  from  the  former  restraints  and  ex- 
posed to  the  exploiting  vices  of  the  world.  Christianity  must  pro- 
claim its  solution  of  the  problem  of  the  congested  city  and  must  give 
a demonstration.  In  other  words,  we  cannot  feel  that  we  have  met 
the  challenge  of  contemporary  life  in  Japan  if  we  seek  only  the 
comfortable  residence  suburbs  and  leave  the  slums  without  our  minis- 
try. We  cannot,  for  in  that  case  we  should  be  propagating  a Chris- 
tianity with  a blind  spot,  a Christianity  that  would  never  attack  the 
problems  of  contemporary  life,  a one-sided,  defective  Christianity, 
for  the  sake  of  the  proclamation  of  a full  gospel,  we  must  attack  the 
problem  of  the  slum.  We  are  doing  something  in  the  Fukugawa  dis- 
trict of  Tokyo,  but  that  work — so  bravely  carried  on  against  odds 
must  not  be  allowed  to  cross  its  dead-line  for  want  of  equipment  and 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


37 


plant.  The  same  challenge,  and  a set  of  conditions  to  which  I have 
seen  no  parallel  in  any  slum  whatsoever,  confronts  us  in  Osaka.  We 
have  been  formally  requested  to  go  ahead  with  this  work.  Can  we 
meet  our  responsibility  and  side-step  this  challenge  when  that  very 
challenge  called  out  into  Christian  activity  and  the  Christian  ministry 
one  of  the  ablest  young  men  in  Osaka? 

But  the  Japanese  city  is  not  all  slum.  The  fact  is  that  the  great 
mass  of  city  dwellers  are  self-respecting,  hard-working,  family-loving 
folk;  they  too,  need  a manifold  and  discriminating  ministry.  And 
this  leads  me  to  speak  of  the  Misaki  Tabernacle. 

The  Misaki  Tabernacle 

The  Tabernacle  is  one  of  the  finest  instances  in  my  knowledge  of 
a ministry  built  up  around  community  needs.  No  church  will  find 
the  Misaka  program  a panacea.  There  are  no  panaceas.  But  any 
church  may  well  learn  from  the  Misaki  Tabernacle  how  to  approach 
its  own  neighborhood  and  discover  the  potential  points  of  contact. 
The  points  of  contact  were  found  and  the  ministry  begun  long  before 
the  present  splendid  building  was  to  be  had.  The  building  literally 
took  form  around  the  life  of  the  Tabernacle:  it  was  built  around  a 
going  concern.  Will  a people  respond  with  support  and  patronage 
to  such  an  opportunity?  Last  year  the  Japanese,  through  fees  and 
gifts,  raised  51  per  cent  of  the  total  budget,  and  that  in  a notably 
difficult  year  financially.  The  building  has  become  a literal  communi- 
ty center  and  thousands  of  people  are  annually  brought  under  its 
ministry  who  would  not  be  reached  at  all  by  the  ordinary  routine 
of  a Christian  church.  There  is  no  more  significant  type  of  Christian 
service  as  related  to  the  city  problem. 

A Trained  Ministry:  The  Seminary 

The  imperative  need  of  a trained  ministry  has  for  some  time  been 
upon  us  in  America.  We  need  to  realize  that  it  is  not  less  urgent  in  Ja- 
pan. Japan  has  an  overweening  appetite  for  learning.  It  is  quite  sur- 
prising to  visit  the  book-stalls  and  note  the  titles  of  the  foreign  books 
toi  be  found  there — not  in  one  stall  but  again  and  again.  It  is  true 
that  many  fail  and  will  continue  to  fail  of  the  opportunity  for  higher 
education;  but  the  Japanese  people  are  alert,  intellectually  eager,  and 
not  to  be  led  far  by  one  who  manifestly  lacks  what  they  so  highly 
prize. 

The  candidates  for  our  ministry  in  Japan  vary  a good  deal.  It 
probably  cannot  be  said  as  yet  that  they  are,  as  a body,  of  the  high- 
est average  ability.  But  there  are  some  very  able  young  men  among 
them,  and  the  average  is  improving,  I am  told.  I myself  met  the 
Seminary  student  body  and  addressed  them  on  two  successive  morn- 
ings, and  I gained  a very  good  impression  of  their  intelligent  interest 
in  matters  which  are  of  great  concern  to  our  western  theological 
world.  I also  met  several  young  men  who  are  entering  the  ministry 
in  more  or  lessi  extended  personal  contacts.  I regard  the  outlook  as 
distinctly  encouraging. 

The  fact  remains,  however,  that  we  must  in  time  give  our  min- 
istry a more  ample  measure  of  training  than  our  present  arrange- 
ment permits.  We  shall  probably  never  have  abler  men  on  the  fac- 
ulty, although  the  younger  of  these  men  will  grow  in  experience  and 
ripen  in  Christian  character.  But  there  are  many  limitations  to 
work  with  a small  student  group,  seldom  more  than  a score,  in  a 
detached  institution.  And  there  are  also  limitations  imposed  by  the 


38 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


attempt  to  cover  both  preparatory,  and  seminary  work,  with — if  I 
mistake  not — some  Junior  College  work  added.  The  range  is  wide 
when  one  considers  the  size  of  the  faculty.  We  may  justly  hope  that 
with  time  we  shall  be  able  to  claim  young  men  from  such  a school  as 
Waseda,  although  not  in  large  numbers.  But  our  main  dependence 
must  continue  to  be  upon  our  own  schools.  This  brings  me  to  speak 
of  Mabie  Memorial  School  for  Boys. 

The  Kwanto  Gakuin 

I have  been  trying,  ever  since  my  first  visit  to  the  Mabie  Memorial 
School,  to  find  a full  vindication  for  it  in  my  own  mind  as  a mission- 
ary enterprise,  an  undertaking  of  our  Society.  I grant  that  it  would 
be  a service  second  to  none  to  give  these  hundreds  of  students  an 
education  under  Christian  auspices  and  at  the  hands  of  Christian 
teachers.  I cannot  think  of  a finer  Christian  philanthropy.  But  I 
am  always  trying  in  my  own  mind  to  relate  these  various  activities 
of  our  Society  in  the  mission  field  to  the  upbuilding,  rather,  may  I 
say,  to  the  creation,  of  autonomous,  self-propagating,  self-supporting 
Baptist  churches.  No  merely  diffusive  Christianity  is  going  to  live; 
the  only  kind  that  will  live  is  the  kind  that  organizes  itself  into 
churches. 

Now  this  is  not  likely  as  a middle  school  ever  to  become  primarily 
a boarding  school.  The  chances  are  that  it  will  continue,  so  long  as 
it  is  a Middle  School  only,  to  be  mainly  a school  attended  by  day  pu- 
pils. It  is  more  difficult  in  such  a school  to  integrate  an  adequate 
Christian  group  for  propagation  purposes;  and,  moreover,  it  is  a bit 
difficult  to  secure  permanent  decisions  for  the  Christian  life  from  a 
group  so  young,  who  have  not  had  a Christian  background.  Much 
depends  on  what  happens  to  them  after  they  leave  as  well  as  while 
they  are  still  pupils.  A strong  church  at  the  Kwanto  Gakuin  would 
seem  to  be  quite  indispensable,  but  for  the  reason  that  the  pupils  live 
all  over  the  city,  it  would  not  have  the  significance  that  it  might  if 
the  school  were  mainly  a boarding  school. 

It  seems  to  me  that  to  conserve  our  opportunity,  we  need  event- 
ually to  extend  the  course  at  Kwanto  Gukuin  to  cover  at  least  Junior 
College,  if  not  Senior  College,  work.  We  have  the  same  reason  for 
conducting  a Christian  college  in  Japan  that  we  have  in  America,  and 
an  even  greater  reason,  if  I mistake  not:  that  is,  that  we  may  train 
a Christian  leadership  and  give  our  young  people  the  opportunity  for 
higher  education  under  Christian  auspices. 

It  seems  to  me,  then,  that  ultimately  it  will  be  the  part  of  wisdom 
to  locate  the  Seminary  work  where  it  may  articulate  with  collegiate 
work  in  our  own  institution,  that  is  near  the  Mabie  Memorial  School, 
or  College  as  it  may  become.  We  ought  to  be  prepared  to  make  this 
enlargement  of  the  institution  when  it  reaches  its  majority  as  a mid- 
dle school,  although  I cannot  see  how  it  will  be  possible  then. 

Student  Work  at  University  Centers 

No  phase  of  the  work  of  our  Mission  in  Japan  has  appealed  to  me 
more  strongly  than  the  student  work  at  Waseda  University.  It  is 
so  manifest  that  Christianity  must  make  its  appeal  to  the  leadership 
of  modern  Japan,  if  it  is  ever  to  win  a place  of  commanding  influence 
in  the  life  of  the  nation,  that  I have  given  unquestioning  assent  to 
the  experiment  at  Waseda.  That  experiment  has  fully  justified  the 
faith  which  projected  it.  It  has  given  us  a contact  with  the  student 
life  of  that  great  institution  even  more  vital  than  we  had  dared  to  an- 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


39 


ticipate.  With  the  erection  of  Scott  Hall,  the  new  Baptist  Guild  Hall, 
this  work  enters  upon  a new  stage  of  its  history,  and,  indeed,  reaches 
a fresh  crisis.  In  my  judgment,  we  must  now  make  a strong  effort 
to  nucleate  our  efforts  in  a Christian  church  whose  ministries  shall 
be  closely  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  student  group,  and  to  correlate 
the  life  of  this  church  with  the  life  and  work  of  our  other  churches. 
We  could  easily  continue  along  the  old  lines ; indeed,  that  earlier  effort 
has  given  us  our  basis  and  approach.  But  our  big  problem,  as  a 
missionary  agency,  is  to  link  up  the  young  men  who  accept  Christian- 
ity with  the  Christian  churches,  more  specifically,  with  our  own  Bap- 
tist churches,  so  that  the  weight  of  their  influence  and  the  gifts  of 
their  leadership  may  be  turned  into  specifically  Christian  channels. 
I make  these  observations  for  the  reason  that,  with  ampler  institu- 
tional facilities,  we  may  easily  dissipate  our  effort  in  other  directions, 
worthy  in  themselves  but  not  in  line  so  directly  with  our  main  ob- 
jectives. 

I was  very  much  impressed  with  the  real  opportunity  which  we 
have  in  connection  with  the  government  university  at  Sendai.  Of 
all  the  missions  in  Sendai,  ours  is  located  much  nearer  the  University. 
The  same  lack  of  student  accommodations  which  one  finds  generally 
in  Japan  obtains  here.  It  would  be  possible,  with  a good  hostel  as 
center,  to  carry  on  a very  strong  and  effective  work  among  the  stu- 
dents of  this  institution.  I do  not  know  that  our  representative 
would  be  given  standing  as  a professor  in  the  institution,  although 
that  might  be  quite  likely.  In  any  case,  the  gathering  of  interested 
Bible  classes  upon  the  invitation  of  Mr.  Ross,  and  their  sustained  in- 
terest in  the  opportunities  thus  offered  them,  indicate  the  possibil- 
ities of  a much  larger  development  of  this  work. 


The  Inland  Sea 

I counted  it  a rare  privilege  to  spend  four  days  upon  the  Fukuin 
Maru.  The  fruitage  of  Luke  BickeFs  life  cannot  be  reckoned  statis- 
tically; even  so,  we  have  here  a splendid  basis  for  future  effort  in 
the  nearly  300  church  members  and  the  more  than  2,000  children  in 
Sunday  schools  in  this  great  parish  of  1,500,000  souls,  where  we  are 
charged  with  the  sole  evangelical  responsibility.  Everywhere  the 
people  are  friendly;  they  know  the  Gospel  Ship  and  welcome  it. 

We  have  now  reached  a stage  where  the  organization  of  churches 
has  become  imperative:  From  the  one  “Fukuin  Maru  Church,”  we 
must  expand  to  four  or  five.  We  can  have  just  such  results  in  the 
Inland  Sea  as  we  are  prepared  to  work  for.  But,  unless  we  justify 
our  opportunity  by  increased  response,  we  shall  not  be  warranted  in 
asking  other  denominations  to  keep  out  of  this  wide  region.  We 
ought  to  bear  in  mind  the  fact  that  the  Inland  Sea  has  been  and  is 
likely  to  continue  a fruitful  source  of  supply  of  young  men  for  the 
Christian  ministry.  It  bears,  if  I mistake  not,  about  the  same  poten- 
tial relationship  to  our  work  in  Japan  as  the  country  churches  of 
America  do  to  our  ministry  at  home. 


Returned  Students 

A considerable  number  of  students  from  our  Japanese  churches 
have  had  advanced  training  in  America  and  have  returned  there- 
after to  enter  Christian  service  in  Japan.  These  young  men  have,  on 
the  whole,  fully  justified  the  expenditure  involved.  They  are  pro- 
viding us  with  just  the  sort  of  leadership  we  must  have.  Probably 


40 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


there  should  continue  to  be  a considerable  investment  of  this  sort, 
yet  we  must  look  to  a time  when  the  bulk  of  our  leadership  shall  com- 
plete their  training  in  Japan.  The  only  real  answer  to  the  desire  of 
young  men  to  find  training  abroad,  and  at  the  expense  of  the  Society, 
is  more  adequate  provision  for  their  training  in  Japan.  Once  we 
have  made  ample  provision  there,  our  responsibility  as  a Society  for 
the  training  of  students  abroad  will  greatly  diminish  if  it  does  not 
entirely  cease.  I wish  especially  to  commend  the  returned  students 
whom  I met  for  their  attitude  and  spirit  and  to  indicate  how  very  sig- 
nificant for  the  future  of  our  work  the  presence  of  these  men  at 
this  point  in  the  history  of  our  Mission. 

Devolution  of  Administration 

While  I have  no  particular  leading  with  reference  to  steps  to  be 
taken,  I must  remark  that  the  peculiar  psychology  of  the  times  makes 
highly  important  a degree  of  restraint  and  a measure  of  consideration 
for  divergent  opinion  which  might  at  other  times  and  in  other  sit- 
uations seem  wholly  disproportionate.  I do  not  see  how  the  question 
of  relationship  between  the  Mission  and  the  churches  could  well  have 
been  more  wisely  handled;  yet  the  very  existence  of  such  an  agency 
as  the  Joint  Committee  carries  with  it  certain  liabilities.  The  Joint 
Committee  must,  of  course,  be  continued;  we  can  take  no  backward 
step  here,  nor  can  we  undertake  to  say  who  shall  represent  the  Japan- 
ese churches  upon  that  Committee.  Our  only  recourse  seems  to  be 
that  of  a more  careful  discrimination  of  the  specific  powers  of  the 
Joint  Committee,  and,  in  peculiarly  delicate  matters  which  chiefly 
concern  members  of  the  Mission,  to  take  such  action  as  a Board  as 
shall  relieve  the  Joint  Committee  of  responsibility  in  these  matters. 

Members  of  the  Japan  Mission  are  under  the  peculiarly  trying 
constraint  of  this  situation  in  many  instances  of  which  we  are  not 
aware.  Willingness  to  decrease  iri  authority,  while  he  who  was  once 
your  subordinate  increases;  willingness  to  receive  orders,  where  once 
you  gave  them,  requires  rare  discipline  of  spirit.  By  all  odds,  how- 
ever, we  must  face  the  fact  that  the  churches  of  Japan  are  to  ad- 
minister their  own  life  and  to  control  their  own  affairs,  at  an  even 
earlier  date  than  we  may  consider  them  prepared  to  assume  such  re- 
sponsibilities. The  logical  emphasis  is  upon  the  development  of  a 
competent  leadership.  Of  the  competency  of  the  Mission’s  leadership, 
I cannot  speak  in  terms  other  than  the  highest. 


III.  THE  PHILIPPINE  ISLANDS 
In  General 

One  who  visits  the  Philippines  for  the  first  time  is  scarcely  pre- 
pared for  the  wide  disparity  between  the  standard  of  life  which  obtains 
among  the  more  cultured  Filipinos  and  the  primitivity  of  the  vast 
majority  of  the  people.  It  is  true  that  the  excellent  service  of  the  pub- 
lic school  system  has  reduced  illiteracy,  during  the  period  of  American 
occupation,  from  about  seventy  per  cent  or  higher  to  some  thirty 
per  cent — really  a remarkable  record.  But  this  elevation  of  stand- 
ards of  living  is  in  no  small  part  an  economic  question,  and  the  econ- 
omic ability  of  the  masses  has  not  risen  in  anything  like  a corre- 
sponding ratio.  As  a whole,  the  people  of  the  Philippines  are  poor; 
they  live  meagerly,  in  a tropical  situation  which  does  not  demand 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


41 


from  them  that  continuous  expenditure  of  energy  which  the  making 
of  a livelihood  requires  in  the  temperate  zones. 

The  deposit  of  Spanish  culture,  so  far  as  the  masses  of  the  peo- 
ple were  concerned,  formed  a not  very  uniform  veneer  over  an  un- 
altered base  of  primitivity.  It  is  true  that  three  hundred  years  of  con- 
tact with  certain  aspects  of  Spanish  civilization  left  its  permanent 
marks  upon  the  Filipino  community,  and  in  these  respects  the  com- 
munity has  not  been  radically  altered  by  American  occupancy.  The 
great  invasion  of  the  average  Filipino  community  has  been  the  coming 
of  the  public  school.  In  addition,  there  have  come  into  a great  many 
of  these  communities  the  missionary  representatives  of  the  free 
churches.  These  two  forces  will  eventually  radically  modify  the  life 
of  the  average  community;  indeed  it  may  be  said  that  they  have  al- 
ready accomplished  this  result  in  not  a few  communities — the  public 
school  more  generally  for  obvious  reasons,  than  have  the  free 
churches. 


Political  Issues 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  report  to  do  more  than  suggest  is- 
sues which  have  a bearing  upon  the  missionary  enterprise.  It  may 
not  be  apparent  to  a mere  visitor  to  the  Islands  that  the  political 
situation  has  any  such  bearing,  but  one  has  only  to  consult  expe- 
rienced residents  of  the  Islands  to  learn  that  it  has.  The  Filipino 
people  are  clamorous  for  independence  and  are  inclined  to  make  of 
it  a sort  of  shibboleth.  Whatever  may  be  the  missionary’s  opinion 
as  to  the  readiness  of  the  people  for  complete  independence,  he  can 
scarcely  express  a negative  opinion  without  grave  loss  of  prestige. 
It  is  not  for  me  to  express  my  own  judgment  upon  the  issue  itself; 
I can  only  say  that  in  this  matter,  where  the  missionary  is  almost 
sure  to  have  pretty  strong  convictions,  he  not  seldom  finds  it  impoli- 
tic to  give  them  public  expression. 

The  nationalistic  emphasis  and  tendency  has  manifested  itself  in 
the  formation  of  numerous  separate  churches.  First,  the  Methodist 
church  suffered  a secession,  the  group  calling  itself  Cristianos  Vivos, 
though  this  movement  was  soon  to  be  superseded  by  a more  sub- 
stantial one  called  Iglesia  Metodista  de  Filipinas,  a movement  headed 
by  Nicolas  Zamora  and  one  which  continues  to  this  day  with  consid- 
erable vigor.  A defection  from  the  Manila  Presbytery  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  1913,  on  account  of  utterances  reported  to  have 
been  made  in  the  United  States  by  Dr.  J.  B.  Rodgers  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Mission,  took  away  into  a nationalist  movement  which  called 
itself  Cristianos  Filipinas,  some  of  their  best  churches.  There  are 
numerous  other  groups,  as  the  Iglesia  Nadonal,  a group  in  Cavite 
Province,  which  illustrate  within  Protestant  ranks  the  movement  for 
independent  organizations,  analogous  to  the  movement  from  the  Cath- 
olic Church  which  the  priest  Aglipay  headed.  Once  there  is  de- 
veloped a leadership  of  any  considerable  strength,  this  situation  is 
likely  to  appear.  We  may  be  very  sure  that  the  home  rule  spirit 
will  manifest  itself  within  our  own  field  in  time  to  come  and  the 
desire  find  expression  to  take  over  all  administrative  functions.  That 
is  in  the  end  a desirable  thing;  what  we  must  seek  is  that  when  it 
shall  become  necessary  the  people  shall  be  prepared,  and  such  a con- 
dition can  be  brought  about  only  by  the  development  of  leadership, 
the  development  of  self-support  and  the  inauguration  of  a policy  of 
progressive  transfer. 

The  educated  group  of  young  Filipinos  appear  to  me  totally  ab- 
sorbed in  the  independence  movement.  We  cannot  claim  their  atten- 


42 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


tion  while  we  ignore  their  supreme  interest.  We  have  as  Baptists 
at  least  a theoretic  interest  in  the  principle  of  independence  and  its 
related  principle  of  competency.  We  can  scarcely  fail  to  be  interested 
in  the  ultimate  aspirations  of  the  Filipino  people  and  it  may  be  pos- 
sible for  us  to  achieve  at  this  point  a leadership  of  vast  significance, 
if  we  sympathetically  approach  our  problem.  To  give  content  to  the 
term  “independence”  and  to  the  conception  of  “democracy;”  to  show 
the  limitations  upon  even  American  achievement  of  these  ideals  im- 
posed by  popular  ignorance,  by  moral  cross-currents,  by  political  job- 
bery, and — ^by  direct  application — to  point  out  the  perils  in  the  Fili- 
pino experiment — these,  it  appears  to  me,  would  be  steps  in  an  ap- 
proach to  sympathetic  relations  with  the  young  leadership  of  the 
Filipino  people. 


1.  THE  PHILIPPINE  ISLANDS  MISSION 
The  Visayas  as  a Mission  Field 

The  Visayans  are  the  most  numerous  of  the  so-called  “Civilized” 
Malay  tribes.  The  three  islands  in  which  our  Mission  has  been  at 
work  are  the  abode  of  approximately  half  of  the  Visayan  population, 
although  our  Mission  has  actually  developed  only  a part  of  its  alloted 
field,  since  Samar,  with  an  estimated  population  of  almost  a quarter 
of  a million  people,  has  remained  practically  unoccupied.  It  is  not 
quite  true  to  the  facts  to  regard  Luzon  as  the  Philippine  kite  and  the 
Visayas  as  the  “Tail”;  the  fact  is  that,  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish 
occupation  of  the  Philippines,  the  Visayans  were  more  advanced  than 
the  Tagalogs  of  the  northern  Island,  although  they  did  not  keep  pace 
with  the  Tagalogs  during  the  Spanish  regime.  While  it  is  true  that 
there  is  some  admixture  of  Spanish  blood  throughout  the  Visayas, 
it  is,  on  the  whole,  comparatively  slight;  there  is  a far  larger  percent- 
age of  Chinese  in  certain  sections,  and  the  Visayan-Chinese  mestizo 
is  a more  vigorous  and  thrifty  person  than  the  native  of  pure  Visa- 
yan ancestry. 

In  the  beginning  of  Protestant  work  in  the  Philippines,  when 
“spheres  of  influence”  were  first  tentatively  alloted,  the  entire  field 
of  the  Visayas  was  given  to  the  Presbyterians  and  the  Baptists. 
They  were  to  agree  upon  a division  of  the  territory,  and  they  did 
make  such  an  allocation.  In  the  end  our  responsibility  was  limited 
to  the  provinces  of  Capiz  and  Iloilo  (as  far  south  as  the  city  of  Iloilo, 
which  itself,  except  for  the  joint  hospital  and  dormitory  work,  was 
reserved  to  the  Presbyterians)  and  the  province  of  Occidental  Ne- 
gros, with  the  Island  of  Samar  thrown  in  for  good  measure.  I am 
not  able  to  follow  all  the  steps  in  the  relationships  between  the  Bap- 
tist and  the  Presbyterian  Missons  in  Panay  and  Negros,  but  I recall 
that  Dr.  Rodgers  told  me  that  as  far  back  as  1903  he  has  counseled 
the  transfer  of  all  the  work  in  Panay  to  the  Baptist  Mission,  but  that 
his  counsel  in  the  matter  had  not  been  followed  and  that  all  the  suc- 
ceeding successes  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission  in  that  territory  would 
make  such  a transfer  increasingly  difficult. 

There  are  two  somewhat  distinct  fields  of  work  in  the  Visayas, 
as  elsewhere — the  work  in  the  barrios,  or  small  villages  in  which 
much  the  greater  portion  of  the  Visayans  live,  and  the  work  at  the 
centers  of  population,  such  as  the  provincial  capitals.  While  we  have 
undertaken  both  types,  or  rather  have  addressed  ourselves  to  both 
fields,  the  earlier  history  of  the'  Mission  placed  the  greater  emphasis 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


43 


upon  the  barrio  work.  Here,  as  elsewhere  in  our  Society’s  efforts 
upon  the  foreign  field,  we  did  not  get  at  the  training  of  leadership 
so  early  or  so  adequately  as  some  other  missions,  as,  for  example, 
the  neighboring  Presbyterian  Mission. 

The  people  of  the  Visayas  are  a poor  people;  they  have  neither  the 
energy  nor  the  leading  in  industry  which  seem  to  characterize  the 
Chinese  who  have  entered  this  region.  As  a whole,  they  do  not  get 
on,  although  doubtless  those  who  have  spent  some  years  on  the  field 
can  report  instances  of  marked  improvement.  Industrial  training 
in  the  public  schools  and  agricultural  education  and  direction  by  the 
government  bureau  are  slowly  having  their  effect.  At  the  same  time, 
so  far  as  our  churches  are  concerned,  statistics  of  self-support  are 
meager  enough,  and  would  be  relatively  more  so  were  the  leadership 
more  nearly  adequate  and  correspondingly  more  costly. 

The  Island  of  Negros  presents  something  of  a contrast  with 
Panay  in  the  concentration  of  the  sugar  interests  there.  There 
were  no  less  than  thirteen  sugar  mills  of  the  modern  type,  which  are 
rapidly  displacing  the  old  Spanish  mills,  either  in  process  of  building 
at  the  time  of  my  visit  to  Occidental  Negros,  or  recently  built,  their 
cost  ranging  from  P 750,000  to  P 1,500,000  each.  This  brings  to  Oc- 
cidental Negros  a greater  inflow  of  capital  than  to  any  other  sec- 
tion of  the  Visayas  and  seems  to  suggest  some  very  marked  possibili- 
ties for  future  work.  Yet  in  this  province  the  average  living  con- 
ditions are  poor,  infant  mortality,  as  elsewhere  in  the  Islands,  is 
high,  and  the  term  of  average  life  as  compared  with  our  West  is 
brief. 


The  Churches 

I could  discriminate  three  types  of  church,  as  it  seemed  to  me. 
First,  there  was  the  old  type  of  barrio  church,  not  so  very  different 
from  what  it  was  twenty  years  ago.  I visited  the  church  at  Janiway, 
where  there  was  years  ago  a remarkable  ingathering  and  a compara- 
tively large  membership.  The  whole  barrio  presented  a rather  de- 
jected appearance  to  my  untutored  eye.  The  quarters  in  which  our 
Baptist  population  lived  were  poor  and  primitive  enough,  and  their 
church  would  have  made  a good  cowshed.  I am  aware  that  this 
might  be  said  of  many  a primitive  situation.  But  there  was  almost 
nothing  to  relieve  the  utter  barrenness  of  the  surroundings.  The 
benches  were  simply  two  or  three  bamboo  poles  on  stilts;  the  floor 
was  of  mother  earth;  the  pulpit  was  as  primitive  as  one  can  imagine. 
Frankly  I looked  for  a little  higher  grade  of  response  after  these 
years.  I do  not  know  the  reason  why  there  is  not  such  a response. 
Within  a dozen  miles  to  the  east  is  the  little  barrio  of  Barotoc  Nuevo 
where  the  little  church  was  a marvel  of  neatness,  though  of  not  more 
expensive  materials.  A second  type  of  church  is  the  city  church,  of 
which  that  at  Capiz  serves  as  the  outstanding  example.  It  has  its 
stone  edifice  comparing  favorably  with  surrounding  architecture  and 
its  settled  pastor,  an  elderly  man  of  considerable  ability  and  much 
devotion.  What  that  church  will  do  when  he  retires  is  an  interesting 
question,  for  it  is  not  likely  to  find  a successor  who  can  make  the  same 
material  contribution.  The  third  type  is  the  student  church:  this 
is  the  type  which  we  have  at  Bacolod;  although  it  does  not  set  out 
to  be  exclusively  a student  church,  as  a matter  of  fact  both  its  leader- 
ship and  its  support  are  mainly  from  the  student  body  of  the  Provin- 
cial High  School.  But  when  one  reckons  up  the  number  of  churches 
in  these  three  classes,  he  finds  that  our  churches  are  mostly  barrio 
churches.  In  fact,  while  it  is  important  for  us  to  strengthen  both  the 


44 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


second  and  the  third  types  of  church  work,  and  for  reasons  which 
need  not  be  enumerated,  we  must  greatly  strengthen  the  work  with 
and  for  the  barrio  churches,  for  they  are  both  our  problem  and  our 
ultimate  resource. 


The  Problem  of  Ministerial  Supply  and  Trained  Leadership 

The  fact  is  that  we  sadly  lack  trained  leaders  for  our  churches. 
Men  either  with  very  limited  training  or  none  at  all  are  in  the  ma- 
jority. The  reasons  for  this  are  to  be  found  partly  in  the  general 
retardation  of  the  Visayan  people,  partly  in  the  lack  of  adequate  pro- 
vision for  the  training  of  pastoral  leadership,  partly  in  the  meager 
compensation  and  the  general  unattractiveness  to  young  men  of  am- 
bition of  the  average  Filipino  Baptist  Parish.  The  situation  in  gen- 
eral is  pretty  well  reflected  in  what  I found  on  the  Pototan  field, 
where  there  are  some  25  churches,  in  general  charge  of  an  evangelistic 
missionary.  There  I found  four  men  only  who  gave  all  their  time  to 
the  work  of  the  churches  (not  including  two  men  who  were  self-sup- 
porting). There  were  ten  others,  all  young  men,  who  were  pastor- 
teachers,  that  is  they  conducted  private  schools  from  the  fees  of 
which  they  derived  their  main  support.  Nor  were  these  young  men 
fully  trained  for  the  discharge  of  the  pastoral  office;  they  were  but 
former  students  or  at  best  graduates  of  the  Jaro  Industrial  School 
or  of  government  schools  of  no  higher  rank,  and  without  any  train- 
ing for  religious  work  worthy  of  special  mention. 

There  are  some  recruits  for  the  ministry  coming  from  our  Visa- 
yan field,  and  a part  of  them  have  gone  to  Silliman  Institute  for  their 
general  training,  with  the  result  that  they  have  gone  on  into  the 
Presbyterian  ministry.  Not  a single  Silliman  graduate  is  today  serv- 
ing any  of  our  churches,  while  a number  of  ordained  men  in  the 
Presbyterian  ministry  are  Silliman  graduates  from  our  field.  The 
simple  fact  is  that  Silliman  Institute  does  not  serve  our  field  as  a 
resource  for  the  training  of  pastoral  supply. 

Moreover  on  the  present  level  of  compensation  for  pastoral  ser- 
vice, and  with  the  limited  opportunity  which  an  average  field  in 
our  Mission  seems  to  offer  a young  man,  we  are  likely  for  some  time 
to  find  the  more  promising  output  of  our  schools  or  product  of  our 
dormitory  work  going  into  other  service  or  into  business  where  the 
returns  are  more  lucrative. 

As  I see  it,  the  situation  calls  for  rather  decided  action  in  several 
directions:  First,  we  must  make  adequate  institutional  provision  for 
the  training  of  the  rank  and  file  of  our  leadership ; secondly,  we  must 
make  a more  concerted  and  consecutive  attack  on  the  opportunity 
afforded  by  the  great  student  centers,  where  we  should  hope  to  re- 
cruit not  a small  part  of  our  future  leadership;  thirdly,  we  should 
seek  to  lift  the  whole  of  our  local  church  life  to  a higher  level  of  effec- 
tiveness— the  situation  calls,  at  least  for  fresh  inquiry;  and,  finally, 
we  should  do  a better  piece  of  work  in  field-training  for  the  men  who 
are  now  serving  our  churches. 


Our  Future  Educational  Policy  in  the  Philippines 

I wish,  first  of  all,  to  remark  that  I am  innocent  of  most  of  the 
debate  which  took  place  some  years  ago  over  the  question  of  educa- 
tional policy.  As  I have  remarked,  I refrained  on  principle  from 
making  inquiry  about  past  situations  which  had  been  source  of  fric- 
tion and  tried  to  keep  my  face  turned  toward  the  future.  What  I 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


45 


shall  have  to  say  here  is  not,  therefore,  an  espousal  of  one  side  or  of 
the  other  in  the  controversy;  it  is  the  deliverance  of  my  mature 
judgment,  supported  in  so  far  as  it  has  support  at  all,  by  the  con- 
temporary opinion  of  men  on  the  field,  but  formulated  by  myself 
alone.  I shall  have  occasion  before  I have  gone  much  further  to  cite 
the  judgment  of  an  informal  meeting  of  the  representatives  of  our 
Board  ■who  were  in  the  Philippines  at  the  time  of  my  visit.  While  that 
opinion  couched  in  a resolution,  points  in  the  general  direction  of  my 
conclusions,  my  proposals  go  several  steps  further  in  certain  direc- 
tions than  was  suggested  by  the  resolution. 

Our  educational  effort  at  Jaro  took  the  form  of  an  industrial 
school.  That  was  quite  in  line  with  early  formulations  of  educational 
policy  in  the  Islands,  both  governmental  and  missionary.  Silliman 
Institute  was  itself  projected  as  an  industrial  school.  The  current 
Report  of  the  Director  of  Education  for  the  Philippines  shows  that 
the  public  schools  are  still  paying  a very  large  measure  of  attention 
to  industrial  education,  with  a view  to  improving  the  general  status 
of  the  population.  The  economic  estate  of  the  people  among  whom  we 
labor  was  and  still  continues  to  be  one  of  great  relative  poverty.  If 
we  are  ever  to  hope  for  much  of  an  improvement  in  the  situation,  we 
must  do  something  to  aid  these  people  to  a higher  standard  of  life. 
It  is  upon  this  ground  that  I should  argue  that  whatever  we  may  do 
in  the  future,  we  should  conserve  the  experience  we  have!  gained  and 
the  foundation  we  have  laid  in  industrial  education. 

But  there  are  other  factors  to  be  considered.  The  inclinations 
of  ambitious  young  men,  the  leadership  of  the  Islands  in  years  to 
come,  are  not  predominantly  toward  the  agricultural  and  industrial 
pursuits.  Whatever  we  may  say  of  it,  for  a good  while  to  come,  the 
brightest  and  ablest  young  men  will  go  into  government  service,  into 
commerce,  into  teaching,  into  the  professions,  but  not  back  to  the 
farms.  We  should  like  to  be  able  to  train  some  of  these  men  in  a 
Christian  school,  but  we  shall  train  no  such  proportion  as  Silliman 
now  does  in  an  industrial  school.  We  have  the  same  reason  for  con- 
ducting a Christian  school  of  higher  learning  that  applies  even  in 
America,  and  we  have  yet  other  reasons  that  apply  more  weightily 
where  the  environment  is  so  largely  non-Christian  or  anti-Christian. 

But  the  chief  reason  for  a different  type  of  institution  is  just  the 
reason  which  Silliman  herself  discovered.  Starting  out  to  be  an 
industrial  school  pure  and  simple,  she  found  that  these  students  need- 
ed a broader  training  and  were  asking  for  it.  Accordingly  she  en- 
tered upon  a complete  reversal  of  policy,  by  which  the  Institute 
became  an  exclusively  literary  and  scientific  institution.  Only  in  1919 
did  they  begin  again  to  face  their  responsibility  to  restore  full  train- 
ing in  agriculture  and  industry.  The  head  of  the  Science  Depart- 
ment, in  that  year’s  report,  said,  “Silliman  of  all  schools  should  pre- 
pare a large  percentage  of  her  students  for  agricultural  and  indus- 
trial pursuits,  for  a school  that  does  not  contribute  in  some  way  to  the 
solution  of  these  local  problems  is  missing  the  greatest  opportunity 
of  this  age.”  Now  we  shall  not  repeat  Silliman’s  mistake:  what  I 
am  advocating  is  simply  a broadening  of  our  courses,  with  a change 
of  the  name  of  the  institution  perhaps  such  as  shall  indicate  that 
we  are  not  solely  or  perhaps  even  chiefly  an  industrial  training-school. 

I have  already  given  my  reason  for  what  may  seem  a duplication 
of  the  work  done  by  another  institution.  The  most  the  government 
contemplates,  as  I understand  it,  is  the  full  development  of  a provin- 
cial high  school  and  of  a provincial  normal  school  at  Iloilo.  If  we 
are  able  to  develop  an  institution  giving  collegiate  literary,  or  literary 


46 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


and  scientific  training,  we  shall  be  doing  a work  for  which  the  Island 
of  Panay  will  offer  no  competition.  Dumaguete,  where  Silliman  is 
located,  is  out  of  the  way — rather  central  for  the  whole  Presb3rterian 
field,  but  out  of  the  way  for  Panay  and  as  things  now  are  even  for 
Occidental  Negros,  for  students  can  come  to  Iloilo  now  more  readily 
than  they  can  go  to  Dumaguete.  We  should  be  able  to  draw  upon  the 
whole  of  the  northern  Visayas  for  patronage.  Now  I am  not  think- 
ing of  this  merely  because  I believe  it  possible  to  develop  such  an 
institution  in  time  but  because,  without  it,  we  shall  continue  to  see 
our  best  potential  religious  leadership  diverted.  Let  us  take  Jaro  as 
it  stands,  broaden  its  offering,  limit  and  strengthen  within  those 
limits  its  industrial  department,  and  make  it  the  basis  for  the  train- 
ing of  our  future  religious  leadership.  The  literary  courses  to  be 
offered  can  be  made  to  serve  all  groups  of  students;  there  can  be  built 
up  a strong  and  effective  group  of  biblical  courses ; and  the  whole  can 
be  organized  at  an  early  date  upon  a Junior  College  basis.  Iloilo 
will  be  the  educational  capital  of  the  Visayas  and  we,  at  Jaro,  shall 
be  well  within  the  central  zone.  Such  an  institution  will  give  us  an 
added  prestige  in  whatever  work  we  may  undertake  at  the  La  Paz 
student  center. 


The  Next  Step 

What  is  the  first  thing  to  be  done  with  reference  to  this  situation? 
I submit  here  the  suggestion  of  the  informal  group  adopted  at  its 
meeting  last  September,  at  the  time  of  my  visit.  This  suggestion 
is  in  the  form  of  a resolution,  as  follows: 

“Resolved:  That  we  express  our  opinion  that  institute 
work  and  a Bible  School  on  the  field,  and  Seminary  work 
in  Manila,  are  essential  to  the  development  of  religious 
leadership  on  this  field.  We  wish  to  reiterate  the  request 
for  a ‘Bible  Institute’  man  who  shall  be  qualified  to  initiate 
the  Bible  Training  School  work,  and  we  believe  that  this 
should  take  precedence  over  the  Seminary  work;  but  it  is  our 
opinion  that  the  latter  should  be  undertaken  at  the  earliest 
possible  date  that  the  man  for  the  Seminary  work  should  be 
qualified  to  conduct  dormitory  work  as  well.” 

The  next  step  indicated  by  this  resolution  is  the  sending  out  of 
a man  to  organize  a Bible  Training  School.  The  view  is  couched  in 
these  terms  because  it  was  not  agreed  that  this  work  should  be  cen- 
tered at  Jaro.  But  in  my  judgment  it  should.  I see  every  reason 
why  we  should  have  one  strong  institution  instead  of  two  weak  ones. 
It  seems  to  me  also  that  the  men  who  are  going  into  our  ministry 
should  have  somewhat  more  than  a mere  Bible  School  training,  that  is, 
that  they  should  have  a broader  general  training  than  is  likely  to  be 
afforded  in  its  early  history  by  the  type  of  school  suggested.  The  fact 
is  that  the  young  Filipino  is  educationally  alert,  and  the  future  will 
not  lie  with  the  half-trained  Bible  School  type  of  leader.  A separate 
Bible  School,  as  it  seems  to  me,  would  only  represent  an  opportunist 
policy.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  Bible  Training  School  man  should  be 
perhaps  our  first  contribution  to  the  Jaro  faculty.  If  we  build  up 
a strong  school  of  our  own  for  general  training  and  then  send  our  abler 
young  men  to  Manila  for  final  Seminary  work,  we  shall  be  likely  to 
secure  the  leadership  we  want  and  must  have  if  we  are  ever  to  win 
out  in  our  task  in  the  Philippines. 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


47 


As  to  Manila 

There  is  every  reason  why  we  should  be  represented  in  Manila. 
Manila  is  the  educational  capital  of  the  Islands,  as  well  as  the  politi- 
cal center  and  the  metropolis.  A continuous  stream  of  Visayan  youth 
moves  to  and  from  the  capital,  while  many  remain  there  for  years,, 
in  the  institutions  of  learning,  the  various  departments  of  government 
and  in  business.  The  connections  are  very  close.  Not  only  so,  but  the 
Visayas  supply  not  a few  of  the  religious  leaders  of  the  capital,  some 
of  them  young  men  who  came  from  Baptist  territory. 

What  we  need  at  Manila  seems  to  me  twofold,  as  suggested  in  the 
resolution:  First,  we  need  a representative  who  shall  be  able  to 
organize  a dormitory  for  Visayan  students  at  this  University  center, 
and  who  may  also — and  at  the  present  time  the  same  man  ought 
to  discharge  both  functions,  in  my  judgment, — ^represent  our 
Baptist  interests  on  the  Faculty  of  the  Union  Theological  Sem- 
inary. No  forward  step  which  we  could  take  would  be  more  welcome 
to  the  evangelical  forces  at  Manila,  and  particularly  to  our  Presby- 
terian associates,  as  I am  assured  by  their  representatives  at  Manila, 
Drs.  Wright  and  Rodgers.  Both  this  step  and  that  recommended  in 
the  preceding  paragraph  should  be  taken  at  our  earliest  opportune 
moment. 


Work  at  Student  Centers 

The  organization  of  the  educational  policy  of  the  Philippine  gov- 
ernment offers  a very  pointed  opportunity  to  the  evangelical  missions 
at  work  in  the  Islands.  Instead  of  organizing  high  schools  in  all  the 
leading  barrios,  for  economic  and  other  reasons  but  one  great  high 
school  and  an  accompanying  normal  school  is  planned  for  each  pro- 
vince. Our  position  in  the  provincial  capitals  makes  us  participant 
in  three  such  situations:  At  Capiz  and  at  Bacolod  we  have  sole  re- 
sponsibility, and  we  have  joint  responsibility  with  the  Presbyterians 
for  the  work  at  Iloilo.  (La  Paz) 

Certainly  there  is  no  point  of  contact  with  young  life  more  to 
be  coveted  than  that  afforded  at  La  Paz.  Here  the  sheer  force  of 
numbers  multiplies  the  opportunity  to  any  agency  prepared  to  take 
advantage  of  it.  There  will  be  from  2,000  to  3,000  students  assembled 
here  within  a very  short  period.  The  proposed  joint  effort  to  be 
entered  into  by  our  own  representative  and  that  of  the  Woman’s 
Society  should  mark  a new  epoch  in  fruitful  effort  for  the  student  life 
of  the  Islands. 

The  work  at  Bacolod  has  been  marked  by  a splendid  measure  of 
success,  but  we  must  redeem  the  future  by  a somewhat  more  ade- 
quate physical  basis  of  operations.  The  residence,  in  whose  lower 
story  the  religious  work  centers,  and  the  dormitory  itself,  seem  about 
to  tumble  down  almost  any  time.  Even  the  most  casual  observer 
would  judge  either  that  the  young  Filipino  is  very  hungry  for  what 
the  good  people  who  represent  us  have  to  offer  or  that  he  is  not  a 
very  particular  person  as  to  his  surroundings,  or  both.  If  the  ex- 
cellent work  can  be  done  which  has  been  done,  in  spite  of  a make-shift 
policy  in  equipment,  what  could  we  not  hope  to  do  with  a more  ade- 
quate base? 

Probably  at  Capiz  for  some  time  to  come  the  student  work  must 
be  only  one  of  the  responsibilities  carried  by  the  missionary  in  charge. 
It  may  even  be  that  the  interests  of  the  missionary  stationed  at  Baco- 
lod must  continue  to  be  similarly  divided;  but  certainly  it  is  time  we 
were  giving  a man’s  whole  time  to  the  student  work  at  La  Paz,  With 


48 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


an  adequate  base  of  operations — hut,  or  what  not — such  a man  could 
do  more  evangelization  of  future  leadership  than  half  a dozen  itine- 
rants could  hope  to  effect,  or  perhaps  the  whole  staff  put  together. 
We  simply  must  possess  that  situation!  It  is  enough  to  make  angels 
weep  to  see  a man  as  overburdened  as  the  physician  in  sole  charge  of 
the  hospital,  effective  as  he  is  and  would  continue  to  be,  obliged  to 
take  on  this  extra  burden. 


The  General  Physical  Equipment  of  the  Mission 

The  general  type  of  building  which  has  served  our  Mission  down  to 
date  represents  a first  series  of  experiments  in  mission  building  in 
the  Islands,  and  is,  in  the  long  run,  an  expensive  type  of  building 
to  maintain.  The  reason  for  this  is  partly  climatic  but  chiefly  be- 
cause of  the  white  ants.  The  most  of  our  buildings  are  honey-combed 
by  white  ants  and  tottering  to  their  fall.  The  situation  at  Bacolod 
and  at  Jaro  is  almost  pitiable,  not  to  speak  of  buildings  used  solely 
for  residence  purposes  there  and  elsewhere.  It  seems  to  me  that 
as  we  replace  these  buildings,  and  replace  them  we  must,  we  should 
seek  to  erect  a permanent  type  of  structure,  generally  perhaps  of 
concrete.  Small  as  may  be  the  relative  initial  cost  of  the  present 
type,  it  is  expensive  to  maintain,  and,  in  the  long  run  little  short  of 
disastrous.  It  is  not  so  much  a more  elaborate  type  as  a more 
permanent  type  of  building  that  is  advocated.  In  no  other  mission 
did  I see  so  much  evident  wrack  and  ruin. 


Possible  Transfers  from  Mission  to  Mission 

When  I was  in  Manila,  as  I have  indicated.  Dr.  Rodgers  reminded 
me  of  his  suggestion  of  1903  that  the  Presbyterians  surrender  the 
whole  of  Panay  to  the  Baptist  Mission.  I ought  to  say  that  he 
volunteered  this  bit  of  information  and,  indeed,  the  whole  question 
was  under  discussion  at  his  instance.  He  could  see  a great  many 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  any  transfer  being  made  now,  but  only 
such  difficulties  as  naturally  suggest  themselves.  The  question  of 
possible  transfer  was  informally  discussed  with  some  of  our  mission- 
aries and  they  felt  that  the  Mission  could  deal  with  the  churches 
to  be  taken  over  better  than  the  Board  could  deal  with  its  constit- 
uency. That  is  as  far  as  matters  went  during  my  visit. 

However,  as  you  are  aware,  a definite  proposal  materialized 
later  on  for  the  transfer  of  the  Presbyterian  work  in  southern 
Panay  to  the  Baptist  Mission,  with  the  understanding,  I believe,  that 
the  Presbyterians  should  take  up  work  on  the  Island  of  Samar, 
where  we  have  made  only  a sporadic  effort  to  establish  work.  And 
one  very  practical  difficulty  has  arisen  in  the  attitude  of  the  Filipino 
churches  involved  in  the  proposed  transfer;  they  have  objected.  It 
may  be  that  this  is  an  insuperable  barrier;  it  may  be  that  it  is  not. 
It  was  not  an  insuperable  barrier  to  the  transfer  of  our  Central 
China  Mission,  although  the  cases  are  not  quite  parallel — that  is, 
the  final  decision  did  not  rest  with  the  churches.  Such  a transfer 
would  tend  to  simplify  matters  a good  deal,  but  it  may  not  be  the 
best  way  out. 

The  fact  is  that  it  ought  to  be  possible  to  do  a good  piece  of 
co-operative  work  in  Iloilo,  as  it  has  been  elsewhere.  At  the  same 
time,  we  are  in  a rather  anomalous  situation  there,  or  were  at  the 
time  of  my  visit,  with  the  Hospital  situation  entirely  in  Baptist 
hands,  the  Hostel  under  Baptist  care,  and  the  Baptist  staff  of  the 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


49 


Hospital  under  the  ministrations  of  a Presbyterian  church  hard  by. 
I have  no  intention  of  trying  to  go  into  that  situation.  I do  not 
know  enough  about  the  merits  of  the  case  as  this  matter  did  not 
come  up  for  discussion  during  my  visit.  I do  feel  that  our  situation 
in  the  city  of  Iloilo  is  somewhat  anomolous.  We  have  the  most  of 
Iloilo  Province  and  our  work  brings  us  right  up  into  the  suburbs  of 
the  city,  so  to  speak,  for  Jaro  is  practically  a suburb  of  Iloilo;  yet 
we  are  not  permitted  to  share  the  city  proper  with  the  Presbyterians 
in  the  church  or  evangelistic  field.  To  my  mind  a provincial  capital 
such  as  Iloilo  ought  to  be  open  territory  for  the  two  missions  whose 
fields  terminate  at  its  border^,  so  to  speak. 

As  to  Samar,  if  the  transfer  is  impracticable  and  falls  through, 
we  ought  either  to  establish  a real  center  there  and  prosecute  the 
work,  or  else  we  should  invite  some  other  body  that  may  be  willing 
to  undertake  additional  responsibility  to  enter  that  field.  It  is  a 
very  great  pity  to  keep  that  Island,  with  a quarter  of  a million 
people,  without  evangelical  privileges. 


Our  Medical  Policy  in  the  Philippines 

I mention  this  topic  merely  to  say  that  I do  not  feel  wholly 
competent  to  discuss  it.  Superficially  considered,  the  Philippines 
may  seem  midway  between  such  a land  as  China,  where  the  medical 
profession  is  a mission  quantity  and  Japan,  where  the  medical  pro- 
fession is  provided  and  is  relatively  competent.  Just  how  rapidly 
medical  education  in  the  Philippines  will  create  a supply  of  com- 
petent Filipino  physicians,  I cannot  predict.  But  I should  judge  that 
the  date  when  an  adequate  staff  of  competent  physicians  will  be 
forthcoming  is  rather  remote. 

With  the  present  high  rate  of  infant  mortality  as  an  index  of 
comparative  need,  to  say  nothing  of  the  needs  of  the  foreign  staff 
of  the  Mission,  under  the  trying  tropical  conditions,  there  is  not  only 
room  for  what  we  are  now  doing,  but,  if  I mistake  not,  room  for 
very  definite  expansion.  However  that  may  be,  the  physicians  in 
charge  of  our  medical  work  have  not  only  been  the  servants  of  a 
common  and  very  urgent  need  of  the  Filipino  community,  they  have 
also  been  evangelists  of  the  first  rank.  And  that  is  as  it  should  be. 
In  the  training  of  nurses,  in  personal  and  mass  evangelism,  in  the 
work  of  the  student  centers,  their  efforts  have  been  richly  rewarding. 
It  should  also  be  called  to  our  attention  that  the  medical  work  is  in 
the  way  of  becoming  more  nearly  self-supporting  than  the  evangelistic 
work. 

Whether  some  new  understanding  could  place  our  relations  with 
the  Presbyterian  Mission  in  the  medical  work  at  Iloilo  upon  a more 
satisfactory  basis,  I do  not  know.  Perhaps  it  is  worth  trying. 


Reinforcements  and  Reorganization 

None  of  our  five  missions  which  come  within  my  purview  in  this 
report  sp  greatly  needs  reinforcements;  and  these  reinforcements 
should,  as  I take  it,  supply  first  of  all  the  pressing  needs  which  I 
have  indicated — the  development  of  our  school  at  Jaro,  the  manning 
of  the  student  work  at  La  Paz,  the  adequate  staffing  of  our  stations. 
With  compelled  absence  from  the  field  on  account  of  furloughs  and 
for  other  reasons  of  so  many  of  our  staff,  the  Mission  is  reduced 
below  the  minimum  level  for  efficiency,  ruinously  below  it. 

And  with  reinforcements  there  should  be  brought  about  at  the 


50 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


earliest  practicable  date  the  full  reorganization  of  the  Mission  and 
the  complete  restoration  of  function.  This  should  involve  the  fullest 
participation  of  representatives  of  the  Woman’s  Board  in  stated 
conference  and  co-operative  effort. 


VI.  CONCLUSION 

A Word  Concerning  the  Work  of  the  Woman’s  Society 

I wish  here  to  record  my  deep  appreciation  of  all  the  courtesies 
shown  me  by  representatives  of  the  Woman’s  Society.  I was  made 
to  feel  that  I was  quite  as  truly  their  guest  as  the  guest  of  repre- 
sentatives of  the  General  Society.  Although  I did  not  enter  into 
inquiries  concerning  policies  and  the  like,  as  with  representatives 
of  the  General  Board,  I saw  the  work  of  the  Woman’s  Society  at 
every  opportunity,  and  I was  greatly  impressed  by  the  scope  and 
efficiency  of  that  work.  Even  when  one  considers  that  the  Woman’s 
Society  has  responsibility  rather  for  selected  types  of  work  than 
for  the  general  conduct  of  the  enterprise  in  the  community,  he  has 
yet  to  say  that  a really  remarkable  series  of  results  have  been 
achieved. 

I could  wish  that  it  were  possible)  for  me  to  mention,  one  by  one, 
the  kindergartens,  hospitals,  girls’  schools  and  the  like,  which  I 
had  the  pleasure  of  seeing.  That  is  quite  out  of  the  question.  But 
I do  want  to  say  how  much  I appreciated  the  spirit  and  the  con- 
tribution of  the  representatives  of  the  Woman’s  Society,  as  these 
were  evidenced  in  the  meetings  of  the  annual  conferences,  the  station 
councils,  reference  committees  and  the  like  at  which  I was  present. 
I found  the  true  spirit  of  team-work  and  was  able  a good  share  of 
the  time  to  forget  that  there  was  a representative  of  this  society  and 
here  a representative  that — there  was  so  manifest  a unity  of  under- 
taking. 


As  to  the  Recommendations  Embodied  in  this  Report 

I have  not  seldom  ventured  rather  decided  expression  of  opinion 
and  have  recommended  policies  without  alternative.  I wish  to  make 
it  perfectly  plain  that  I do  this  in  no  dogmatic  spirit.  These  ex- 
pressions are  merely  my  own  best  judgment,  based  not  seldom  yet 
not  uniformly,  upon  the  best  judgment  of  one  or  more  missionaries. 
The  most  I venture  to  ask  is  careful  consideration  of  the  measures 
recommended.  Not  one  of  them  would  I wish  to  have  adopted  without 
the  fullest  possible  discussion  and  study  of  the  issue  and  of  the 
situation  which  conditions  it. 

My  sole  desire  in  the  expression  of  opinion  is  that  the  Kingdom  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  may  have  sway  over  the  lives  of  men.  If  any 
suggestion  of  mine  looks  toward  a contrary  result,  may  it  be  over- 
ruled. 


A Personal  Word 

I have  said  to  you  very  inadequately  those  things  that  have  been 
suggested  by  my  recent  tour  of  the  missions.  I can  but  hope  that 
you  will  push  the  inquiry  much  further.  If  this  report  shall  serve 
in  any  degree  to  that  end,  I shall  be  most  happy. 


Christian  Progress  in  the  Far  East 


51 


‘‘And  now  unto  Him  that  is  able  to  guard  you  from  stumbling,  and 
to  set  you  before  the  presence  of  his  glory  without  blemish  in  exceed- 
ing joy,  to  the  only  God  our  Savior,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord, 
be  glory,  majesty,  dominion  and  power,  before  all  time,  now  and 
forevermore.  Amen.” 


Sincerely, 


Your  Servant  and  Brother, 
(Sgd.)  Henry  B.  Robins. 


1. 

\ 


1 


\ 

\ 


For  information  regarding  the  work  of  the 
American  Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Society,  write 
to  the  following: 

1.  Home  Department,  American  Baptist  Foreign 
Mission  Society,  276  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York 
City. 

2.  The  State  Promotion  Director  of  your  state. 

3.  The  General  Board  of  Promotion,  276  Fifth 
Avenue,  New  York  City. 


